Tangmere to York 13th February

There were 2 steam locomotives at Kings Cross this morning.....


If you strolled across to the concourse, in front of the ticket office, the Ffestiniog Railway's 'Princess' is on display with a couple of coaches. Footplating is encouraged!

 

A friend of mine was at Offord Cluny :

RD12760. 34067 at Offord. by Ron Fisher, on Flickr

 

Well the weather might have been vile but "Tangmere" looked and sounded a treat. CLICKETY CLICK

(that should get me a "Yeti" like) lol!

 

I was actually confident that she was going to have a good run today after noticing how smooth she ran on that 1 Christmas tour before the radio went out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thank you Sir .

 

34067 'Erratic' running very well and what a show past Ranskill signal box ! The gentleman's reaction at the end summed it up well !

 

I must have been stood alongside Ron Fisher this morning (or rather on steps) for Tangmere



John

 

Usual quality video John. Next time we have a Bulleid passing through Peterborough we must make sure 34081 is in the headhunt at Peterborough (NVR).

 

It wasn't actually me, it was my ex neighbour from when I lived up that way. He keeps me up to date with the goings-on in the area.

 

Bit late on stage with this one, but better late than never Tangmere at Arlesey

 

Fifteen minutes after hiding from wind & Icy rain,'Tangers' appeared 5 minutes early with a nice White plume trailing from it.
Unfortunately out of nowhere, in the middle of nowhere - a noisy family did too.

 

8 early at Arlesey tonight. Diesel shoving away merrily.

 

Another shot of "Tangmere", the return trip seen here at COSTA dull COLTON!

 

The trouble is that 9th July 2012 will be a difficult act to follow and we may not get a chance until 9th July 2017. Lets hope that is run by UKR and not Diesel Nightmares

 

I have heard that they ran out of coal on the way up which vindicates the decision to add the diesel and the box did some of the work on the way back as I assume they weren't going to take any risks.

 

But the $64,000 question is, would 34067 have run short of coal if it hadn't had to drag the 47 along?

 

Yes! As someone who is overhauling a similar loco you must know of the limited coal capacity of a Bulleid tender. The job was originally booked for 60009 with a 9 ton coal capacity as opposed to 34067's 5 tons.

Peter

 

But I've been on an unassisted run from Waterloo to Exeter St. Davids with 34067 without any coal shortage and it's only about 15 miles shorter than Kings Cross - York but a much more challenging route. As for 9 tons of coal for an A4, that's what was required for London - Edinburgh, more than twice the distance of London to York.

 

Have a look at the pictures of the Elizabethan rostered A4 at Kings Cross or Haymarket, the pile of coal was always well up to the loading gauge and maybe beyond, probably more like 10 tons plus.
I was talking to an ex Crewe fireman a few years back about what was arguably the hardest footplate job on the railway, the Crewe - Perth Parcels booked for a Royal Scot, worked throughout by a single crew lodging over at Perth and back the next day. Some drivers would go under the coaler for a top up just before booking off shed and additionally ask the coalman to put a couple of sacks on the footplate. My fireman friend told me that on a couple occassions after a bad run he had shown the driver a shovel full of dust coming down past Hilton Junction and said that that's the lot. Understandably after the return working the following day was a mandatory rest day.

 

I thought the East Coast non-stops were limited load summer only operations.Other through trains changed locos en route. Saturdays operation was a very different proposition. In steam and exam on Friday, off Southall early hours of Saturday with the ecs to Kings Cross plus an 11 coach train to heat and then the run begins - all that on 5 ton of coal? That's asking for trouble. And then there is the limited servicing time at York, which gives no time to water and shunt the stock if the steam loco has to do that as well. Sorry but we live in 2016 and not 1960

Peter