35028 Clan Line to Canterbury Saturday 23rd May

Not only the Dunkirk spirit. Maybe a lot of relief too as those on board are almost safe from the TV coverage of that Eurovision thingy!

 

I spoke with a senior West Coast driver/inspector today out on mainline duty and when I told him that 35028 had been pulled due to Statesman coaching issues he was absolutely amazed. His immediate retort was those air conditioned coached need a diesel for the aircon whether in summer or winter and I guess his point was that when DBS agreed to crew the tour with 35028 they should have factored in a diesel too just as they do on the Belmond Pullman. If he is right, then maybe the finger of blame should be pointed at DBS. Wayne, for whom I have a great deal of respect for, simply told it as it is from the steam crew point of view. His contributions are always of the highest quality.

 

But DBS provided a diesel which hauled the train .........

 

That, I'm afraid, is rather wide of the mark. DBS are blameless in this whole debacle. Some of us know what happened and who sanctioned it but can't fathom out why it happened.

 

DBS may have provided the diesel that hauled the train but what we don't know is would the diesel stayed on the train and powered up from Battersea had Clan Line still been doing the trip. It is perfect possible that the 67 may have been due to wait at Battersea for the return of the charter or shut down at which point DBS would not have planned for the additional driver required to sit on the Diesel for the journey around Kent.

While Wayne was unhappy his post would seem to corroborate this as he indicated the steam drivers would have to drive the diesel, which would not be necessary if DBS had an additional driver already planned to stay on the diesel for the Kent leg.

If this is the case then it may not specifically be West Coasts fault it just depends whose responsibility it was for realizing the train would need the diesel for the central locking system arguably DBS who was running the train or Stateman who had hired the carriages. The irony would be, if this was the reason behind the change of motive power, that had it been a WCRC operation they would most likely have been able to get another driver at short notice however as a DBS operation that would have been next to impossible.

 

There was nothing at all wrong with the steam engine, the train, the crew, the paperwork, or the 67. It had been properly planned by WCR staff, sub-contracted to DBS, as per WCR stated policy since 3 April of trying to run as many trains as possible using other operators while their own licence is, er, compromised. So far, so good. What the WCR staff hadn't done was tell their Chairman. He only found out on Friday, the internet being a foreign country to him. There was no operating, safety, SMS, or process driven reason for what happened next. David Smith just had one of his episodes. And there isn't anyone on his payroll with enough spunk to tell him to go for a lie down in a dark room until he feels better. Thus the rail tour business lurched a little further into disrepute today, for no good reason at all.

 

I was about to reply to Wandering Melk's supposition that it might be possible to lay the blame somewhere other than at West Coast's door but your post pretty much nails it.

 

Maybe because Statesman has probably sensibly been reviewing its options as to which TOC might offer the most reliable service in future, rumours of its sale notwithstanding.
I rather think the answer is to hand in that respect .....
Also the MN had a 2 in its number instead of a 1.

 

I remember a few years ago we were on a Steam Dreams trip to York, behind Tornado and the stock was chocolate and cream from, I think, Riviera Trains. We were chatting to Marcus Robertson on the train, and if I remember correctly he said that the owner of the "Green Train" stock would not allow it to be pulled by Tornado "because he didn't like its colour". So maybe irrational decisions about locos and stock and DBS have a long history at WCRC!

 

Thank you Wayne, your 'rants' make sense now....although would you tell him to go and lie down in a dark room if you valued your job?

 

Responsible employers shouldn't be presenting their employees with that kind of stark choice should they?

DS it seems to me needs to be patted on the head and shown the door marked "happy retirement", and sooner rather than later ideally!

 

More likely that 60163 has part from suppliers not on WCRC's approved list, same reason they stopped with 71000, which in the current climate, such a list doesn't seem a bad idea.


On the face of it I have to agree it doesn't look good at all, but I'm not certain we know all the facts myself, if you were on probation yourself, woulden't you rate being whiter than white higher than positive PR, as much as that's needed currently ?, for all their faults, I can't believe a working would be pulled out of spite.

 

Wouldn't be surprised. Given the "train set" comment a few weeks back, that does seem to fit!

 

OTOH, if I were a train operator under the spotlight from a regulator charged with ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the railway system, I might think twice about taking an action that forced another company into having to make a very last minute change in operational plan. "Can you justs....?" are seldom a good way of operating. One hopes at least that WCRC discussed their various options with the ORR before taking a decision.

As you say, maybe more facts will come out about the exact reasons. But from what is known, it doesn't give the impression of being a well oiled machine when such late and apparently arbitrary decisions are made.

Tom

 

I was thinking several of these thoughts today. 35028, 60163, 71000 and lets not forget that wcrc maybe angry about the Scot rail situation and not getting that contract. Can they be happy for what they have which is the bulk of steam tours?

If you're are a locomotive owner how would you feel about today's happening? Non-profits as well.

Also notice how JH is willing to share his engines more as well mainline and galas. I see two very different personalities between JH and DS. It is better to have more Friends than foes.

 

Not to mention DBS, who have bent over backwards to cover for his problems in recent weeks....

 

Obviously, very disappointing for the passengers. Whatever the reason for this last minute change of motive power, we may hopefully get the facts after the Bank Holiday - if this information is made available to those of us who were not passengers.

However, I would, respectfully, like to remind posters who seem to "dislike" WCRC, and particularly Mr Smith; that having just watched the videos of the Duchess and the Earl, on this website, cruising along yesterday, at speed, looking and sounding great, we should bear in mind the bigger picture.

Oh, I forgot, and a SRPS diesel/steam charter to Fort William and Mallaig, using the Jacobite "pool" of locomotives.
And an ORR inspector on the VT charter as well - no pressure chaps!

Add these up in manpower and resources at the operational end, and you have a lot of people involved. At least 6 train crews, plus volunteer support staff, stewards, and the caterers - and I reckon a WCRC senior driver assessor/inspector/manager, on hand as well for the VT charter.

Today, WCRC are in operation as the only TOC who can operate volume UK wide steam charter traffic, and we all should appreciate this.