Lindum Fayre - 9/12/17

Astonishing how inferences are drawn from nothing.

I was not on the trip. I have no knowledge of the running except what I have read on NP and RTT . I am happy to accept that the crew did an excellent job. However, I do not accept that the Scot decided not to steam because she felt like it. There will be reasons why sometimes a locomotive steams well and sometimes not.

Sometimes, one of my old bikes won't start. There is always a reason. Fuel, humidity, temperature, wrong mixture, wrong ignition advance, mechanical or electrical failure since the last run, etc. etc. There is also always a solution. Steam locomotives are the same except there are probably more parameters to consider.

 

You asked "why do you feel the need to defend the crew". It's my opinion that nobody was defending the crew, they were handing out a bit of praise and if the crew have done a good job in possibly difficult circumstances............there is nothing wrong with praising their efforts

 

This is my last comment in what has become an utterly ridiculous exchange. (Good, think other readers!). I understood your point the first time. I accept that Royal Scot has individual characteristics that distinguish it from other locomotives. There will be rational reasons for this. She didn't think to herself yesterday, "Oh, it's a bit of a miserable day, I can't be bothered to do much.". Royal Scot is a locomotive not a living organism despite the metaphors that we use. There's nothing high level about about this technical exchange and neither is the language being used anything other than elementary. My original comment was that someone would have an idea about what was wrong yesterday. Perhaps @LMS2968 will have an idea. Perhaps someone else will. But if I'm told it was because "it was the wrong time of the month" I shall silently scream.

 

Oh dear. Adverb after the verb, i.e. scream silently. So much for a university education.

 

Just one shot at Grantham

 

Sorry old chap but

 

46100 was bowling along nicely through Lincolnshire on the outward trip yesterday. I wouldn't have thought the ECML going south from Grantham would be a challenge for a Scot, considering they frequently stood in for class 8 turns on the WCML. I can't help wondering if the long layover at Lincoln had a detrimental effect on the fire. Does anybody know if she was reluctant to steam on the outward leg?

 

How do you know that? Were you on the footplate?

Enterprise is exactly right, there will be reasons. Firing involves so many different variables so of course there are times when it doesn’t quite go to plan. Without being there you would never know, maybe he cocked it up but who cares they got there in the end.

 

Because it’s entirely plausible?

 

...and because you said: ‘definitely not the crew’ like they are some mythical beings incapable of error. Also, I’m not for a second suggesting that anyone was at fault..

 

Have you guys finished, or should I just ignore this thread for the next couple of days?!

 

From the outside looking in: The curse of the shortage of Class 8 Steam Locos kicked in and that substitute locos meant a reduction in steam mileage. We have to accept that the relatively fragile nature of the locomotives in use will cause issues. BUT on this occasion the tour ran. The steam element was pure steam and that is to be applauded. There were some issues with the steam loco which meant that the driver and fireman had to go the extra mile to ensure the Scot completed the allocated leg and they did a marvellous job. Any number of reasons could explain the difficulties they had but the important thing is they overcame them. Maybe a lesson learned from that about the locomotive or the quality of the coal. Who knows. Worse case scenarios would have been last minute cancellation or diesel haulage throughout. To have a significant steam only leg deserves praise.

 

There was a previous footbridge at that location - it was demolished because people did not use it, preferring to wait for the crossing gates to re-open. The re-sgnalling at Lincoln has also removed the signals further back from the crossing. With the previous arrangement, the loco and support coach could stop off the end of platform 6 which meant that more passenger coaches were on the platform, which made de-training and en-training quicker on a long train.

 

Lincoln is always a nightmare for charter trains. I remember one year we had a lady in a wheelchair in the back coach, the crew had to arrange for the whole train to move forward and block the crossing whilst we helped her off. Whole thing took about 10 minutes which on Christmas Market weekend caused a fair amount of chaos. I think luckily in the evening we may have used the longer platform although I am not sure as I was not involved in helping her back on.

 

Given the problems that locomotive-hauled 12/ 13 coach charter trains arriving from the east (and departing to the west) cause at the High Street Level Crossing, I do wonder why more serious consideration is not given to running the Lindum Fayre, and indeed other charters originating from KGX, in a clockwise direction from Peterborough around the ECML/ Newark/ Lincoln/ GN & GE Joint circuit. I can't recall in recent times such a thing happening with a steam-hauled excursion; maybe I'm wrong about this, but it seems to me to be the quickest and easiest way to make the nightmare go away!