West Somerset Railway General Discussion

What a cunning plan !!!

 

I look at it more along the lines of being more resilient. There will be times, no matter how many locomotives you have, that you will be short. By having a ‘boiler’ that you can just fire up to provide heating provides a much greater level of customer experience than having no heat at all.

Additional steam locomotives are in short supply anyway, I was merely suggesting a cheaper, interim option, that keeps our customers warm.

Ben

 

The question is whether the cost of providing and maintaining that contingency, in itself not a bad idea, makes it more or less likely that locomotives will require cover.


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hi all i am looking at this very idea right now i have a wagon and parts just need a good vertical boiler from a steam crane it will have two uses steam heat in the winter and powering my Andrew Barclay fireless in the summer so if anyone has a vertical boiler and wants to sale pm me

 

Another way to look at all this is that , I have lost I count the times I have turned up at WSR for the first train. Basicly the first train has been cold the engine needs to be attached too the train a good hour before departure to warm the train through. Not ten or fifteen minutes before departure. It’s not good for the paying public to sit in a cold train, freezing their nuts off and watching ones coffee go cold . The train does not warm through untill you get to Blue Anchor .
I would also like add other steam railways do the same as above.

 

[QUOTE=" ............. I would also like add other steam railways do the same as above.[/QUOTE]

The KWVR has a steam generator to pre-warm the coaches. Set to come on via a time clock in good time before the loco arrives.

 

Well to be fair I didn't say the EH works, all I said was it has the cables were still on it where all the others have had them ripped off, though even IF the coach EH worked when was the last time the 33s or the 47 were plugged into something, when 840 arrived i think it arrived in tandem with 828 so that would have been supplying the therm, the ETH properly was checked at Brush when it had the vac brakes put back in but that was a very long time ago now

 

The KWVR has a steam generator to pre-warm the coaches. Set to come on via a time clock in good time before the loco arrives.[/QUOTE]

Great to know the KWVR takes care of of their paying customers comfort.

 

Off the top of my head 31162, 40135 and 47105 have steamed in pres, the willingness to do it is there from various owners, but it's one of those 'is it worth doing or is our loco going to be sat OOU from November to March?'

 

I think 37248 has a working one too and 37099 does have one that works but it didn't have a certificate to be able to use it, I think 37248 is due at Minehead this year but I'm not sure the boiler will be needed in the time of year it's coming, well I hope they won't need it anyhow

 

This sounds like a suitably 'robust' solution, admittedly with the disadvantage of needing a fireman

 

Good vertical boilers looking for a new owner are a bit like hens teeth.

 

Again, the answer to what DEPG locos are able to provide ETH was answered back in post #9218, page 461.

We are going round in circles over this steam heat debate. Many of the questions here, not just from Captain Fantastic, have been answered less than a month ago. Can I suggest people go back to page 460 (+ or- a few). I know it's a lot of pages away but that's what happens with debate on a railway that is very popular!

 

Again please read what I wrote, we all know what loco are FITTED with EH but do the circuits work

 

Post #9218 on page 461 will tell you the situation with the ETH on the DEPG locos at present, ie. which ones can be plugged in and provide ETH at present.

 

Nick,
this would be more easily solved by moving the off shed time of the first departure to 70 mins before the first departure time. I can't speak for every crew but I'm always keen to get off shed and onto the stock as soon as the bobby turns up in the morning. Currently the booked off shed time for BL is 09.20 on a normal day for a 10.20 departure so there should be 45mins of steam heating before we depart. Also a great chance for footplate visits.
I will just mention on thing which does grind a little bit if the effort has been made to get on the stock PDQ to start heating and that is the number of people who leave the doors open!

 

(Deleted)

 

In my experience the steam heat seems to work very well with the train underway and every door window open with a head out of it.

 

That's why this holiday, the Pope brothers are using their loco to heat the coaches. They are there most mornings from around 03:30 to ensure that the heating is on as quickly as possible. There are three people who are doing the lion's share of the work with a few others helping out on the odd day. The WSR owes the "gang of three" an enormous thank you. I was awoken at dark o'clock this morning by the rain battering off the window and was reminded that they are out there in all weathers.

In the unlikely event that you should loose your nuts due to the inclement weather, there is a duty fitter on hand who will be happy to resolve the problem. I would not opt for them being welded back as our welder has a habit of tattooing a witty message alongside his handywork. Please remember to let the fitter know if you are left or right threaded to avoid problems later.

 

In that case may I propose a vote of thanks to the Pope Brothers for their hard work