West Somerset Railway General Discussion

can 60103 be turned on turntable or is it too big, wondering how she would get turned after arrival in May on railtour

 

Use the triangle!

 

None of the LNER or LMS pacifics can be turned on the turntable. Everything else is OK I think.

 

Cue for it to be operated in top 'n tail mode with a resident locomotive (6023 perhaps ?) as most of the customers will not be concerned which way FS is facing - as long as at least one leg of the run is hauled by it and it remains on the train at all times.

 

On the NF triangle or, if the tender is split first, on the MD turntable both of which are time consuming.

 

AIU she can't be split because of a lot of electrical connections?

 

And it invalidates its Network Rail Fitness to Run certificate, so would need to be re-examined before returning to the mainline.

 

Please could you explain more about the reason? Separating the tender would seem, on the face of it, to be a normal, though infrequent operational event. Just curious. TIA

 

I stand humbly corrected , I should have spotted it was two trailers . I was only involved in the haulage industry for thirty years so no excuse really . How I understand it , when running under Special Types rules as long as the carrying vehicle is capable of carrying the weight an indivisible load then anything is possible The key word indivisible , as a loco plus tender isn't indivisible that blows my theory . Apologies .
Paul K

 

Turning FS at MD
I am told that to save the trouble of splitting FS at MD to turn on the ex-GWR turntable (due to the historic design edge the GWR had, anything bigger than an 4-6-0 for express passenger work was considered excessive) that the NMR have arranged for a large hand to reach down from above, lift FS as is and turn without splitting so saving time and any need for another NR FTR exam (which may not be needed anyway while FS is staying on the WSR )
Jeff Price
(from a NMR press release dated 1/4/2017

 

Undoubtedly true. If memory serves right, Tornado was split prior to the end of its first visit to the WSR (the triangle was not complete at this time) and then put through a 'ftr'

My understanding wrt the Minehead Timetable: there are no original load/stress calculations/drgs for this type of table (the GWR had two types of table ?). It was therefore decided that prior use would be used as a criterion. The largest evidence (photographic) found at the time the MD T/T was commissioned was a 'Brittania' being turned at Kingswear.

(The limitation is a weight not length restriction. You can for instance with great care fit a 'Pricess Royal', with tender the longest UK passenger loco, on a 65 ft T/T . I appreciate that with only a few inches spare at each end even weight distribution might be a challenge)

Flying Scotsman was turned at Weymouth in 1965 whilst working on a Rail Tour (there is a photograph)

Question for the 'God's Wonderful Railway' cognoscenti. Was the Weymouth turntable the same design as the Minehead (extended ex Pwhelli) table ?

Michael Rowe

 

Simply because the connections between engine and tender (draw gear, vacuum, air, water, and, on mainline locos, electronics) are safety-critical: therefore, if for any reason they are disconnected and re-connected, the loco is no longer deemed fit to run until they have been re-assessed as being correctly functioning again.

(The same principal, on a larger scale, as why a guard always conducts a brake test after a loco has run round: the fact that the brake was operational when the loco was on one end of the train is no guarantee it will work when the loco moves to the other end: it has to be tested afresh before the train departs).

Tom

 

Changing the subject slightly, I notice from the loco roster that Thursday's operations include a two train timetable, but three locomotives. Is any kind soul able to give me an idea of which will be working what turns, should I manage to be able to call in with time to have a little play en route to Barnstaple.

 

That suggests that 6960 and 53808 are due to be swapped at Minehead, on the arrival of either the 1020 BL or 1435 BL.

 

E£.Lyons suggests that Weymouth turntable was indeed a standard 65ft. Does the picture still exist ? It must have been difiicult to get Flying Scotsman properly balanced on the TT.

 

This claims to be FS at Weymouth in 1965 - I can't vouch for it, but Six Bells Junction says that rail tour was organised by GMRS which matches the headboard, and it is a GWR turntable, so I suspect the caption is correct. It's quite tight! (Scroll down for a bigger photo).

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/PHOTO-LNER-C...830646?hash=item5446e78436:g:GhIAAOSwnHZYjjKl

Tom

 

That would seem to be the case. 53808 starts the day at Lydeard and ends at Minehead.

Sorry I couldn't express the swop clearly on the online loco roster page

Steve

 

No worries - and thanks for the interpretation. Now to see what I can make work on the M5...

 

While splitting vehicles (either from a train or within the 'vehicle', i.e. loco and tender) would invalidate an FTR, I understand that Group Standards state that dropping a steam locomotive's fire also invalidates the FTR and hence a new one is needed each day, whereas for diesel or electric (or bi-mode!) and rolling stock, longer intervals are possible.

Most operators of locos with all the modern 'bells and whistles' tend to try and avoid separating loco and tender whenever possible. This is one of the reasons why mainline locos tend to try and avoid low loaders, for the reasons also just discussed on here!

Steven

 

which would mean a light engine run to Norton from Minehead.