Steve's Recent Activity
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Steve replied to the thread GWR four-cylinder arrangement?.
If you’ve ever emptied a smokebox you’ll know that what gets through the tubes and into there is certainly more than dust. A loco working hard will certainly end up with particles as big as 1/2”. Locos fitted with spark arrestors have fine...
Jul 12, 2026 at 9:57 AM -
Steve liked LMS2968's post in the thread GWR four-cylinder arrangement?.
No. It was always steam. One of the main functions of the bankers on Shap often wasn't so much to assist the train engine to get the load to the top but to act as a defence against coupling breakage and runaways of unfitted goods trains beyond...
Jul 11, 2026 at 9:05 PM -
Steve liked Jamessquared's post in the thread GWR four-cylinder arrangement?.
So just imagine the logistics for a while. In the normal scenario, a loaded rain comes to rest at Tebay (for Shap). The banker runs onto the back from a convenient siding; within a few minutes the train is back on its way. The banker drops off...
Jul 11, 2026 at 9:03 PM -
Steve liked LMS2968's post in the thread GWR four-cylinder arrangement?.
No. Even Beattock was only ten miles long and the engine would arrive with a well prepared fire and plenty of steam and, important, water in the boiler, and the preparation would have started at least twenty minutes before the start of the bank....
Jul 11, 2026 at 6:57 PM -
Steve replied to the thread GWR four-cylinder arrangement?.
Unburnt coal going up the chimney; plain and simple. You need to define what you mean by char but, in my book it is unburnt coal or, more exactly, partially burnt coal which has lost its volatile content but still contains unburnt carbon. That’s...
Jul 11, 2026 at 12:54 PM -
Steve liked Jamessquared's post in the thread GWR four-cylinder arrangement?.
And the overall financial efficiency of that? You are falling into the same trap as everyone else, finding ever more elaborate workarounds to enable one technological option while ignoring the total cost of operation. Tom
Jul 11, 2026 at 12:44 PM -
Steve liked Jamessquared's post in the thread GWR four-cylinder arrangement?.
Well no, it rather suggests that you have reached the limits of gigantism in steam locos and need to think of diesels or electrics if you want to increase power! The only places which seemed to be able to make giant steam locos work was where...
Jul 11, 2026 at 12:41 PM -
Steve liked 21B's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
Interesting responses to my post about diesel not being the same turn off that it was. It seems to have sparked some debate. My observation though was rooted in watching the daily ticket sales of a railway and access to 20 years of detailed...
Jul 11, 2026 at 12:37 PM -
Steve replied to the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
The diagrams show 37688 as being out but the list of locos doesn’t. There’s an error somewhere. Mind you, it’s not unusual with the daily running sheet, which is often a cut and paste job.
Jul 11, 2026 at 9:54 AM -
Steve replied to the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
That roster shows 37688 as being out on internal services, as well. If it has failed, is it just something to do with the equipment required for EVL service, not sure why 31466 has also been pressed into service. That makes four diesel’s and one...
Jul 11, 2026 at 9:12 AM -
Steve replied to the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
The NYMR is on a knife edge with regard to motive power at the moment. I'm told that 37688 has failed and it looks like 44806 is, apparently, the sole 'Whitby' loco and will have to shuttle back and forth between Grosmont and Whitby. That...
Jul 10, 2026 at 8:46 PM -
Steve liked Sulzerman's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
Steam sells. It's a vital USP of the NYMR. I've seen people turn away when they find out it's not Steam haulage. The present timetable is littered with Ds and ds, how does that look? The diesels themselves are class 37s and a 47, two in BR...
Jul 10, 2026 at 8:08 PM -
Steve liked cksteam's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
I think that's a flawed argument. Its not hard to see that the more successful heritage railways in terms of passenger numbers are the ones running steam. The NYMR now completely relies on Whitby for its 'draw'. The NYMR used to pull people in...
Jul 10, 2026 at 8:58 AM -
Steve liked 5944's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
With the MHR (and a lot of other lines), the journeys are shorter and passengers have the opportunity to swap between trains so can experience steam and diesel. By prioritising the longer journey to Whitby so much the NYMR have got themselves...
Jul 10, 2026 at 8:57 AM -
Steve liked Sheff's post in the thread North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion.
Seems there is equipment out there that’s not dissimilar. [MEDIA]
Jul 9, 2026 at 10:48 PM
