Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway General Discussion

@Steamie Boxes You're a damn sight better with a camera than me. The lighting conditions looked a long way short of ideal, but that glorious blue livery still showed up superbly.

The loco looks great (unlike the weather). What a superb paint job. Yon driver's a bit of a devil with those drain cocks!

The traffic folks at Ravenglass must be breathing a collective sigh of relief, now there are enough working locos for the first time in ?? years!

Roll on "Esk" as well! (Yep .... I'm following Nigel's progress updates ..... not long now)!

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing WB in service this year ... but that probably means no more hired in locos, hopefully people will come to see WB instead, and Esk when completed.

 

Am I the only one concerned about the lack of communication between the loco crew and the guy inserting the locking bar on the turntable? The driver and his mate were so fast back on to the footplate neither one appear to check whether the guy on his hands and knees is clear?! Drains are opened and he’s whistling up and giving the bloke inserting the locking bar a huge fright. Now it may be there has never been an accident or I’ve missed some communication but that looks like an incident waiting to happen.

Love the loco though very smart

 

Thanks for the nice comment about my camera skills

 

That was exactly my thought as well...
We have very strict routines for this. Regulator closed, reverser in mid gear, drain cocks open, hand brake on and steam lubricator closed, then "engine clear" is reported to the staff on the ground before they touch the levers. "Turntable clear" reported back before the driver touches the controls again.

In any instance, I would not like to kneel down between the rails in front of an engine...

Added:
Forgot to say, the loco looks REALLY good.
Hope it will serve to Ol´ Ratty well for a long time.
And a nice video in nasty weather.

 

@Nigel Day - I want to like that lots of times ... not just once !

 

Seconded!

 

Whillan Beck has successfully finished its running in trials and has been handed to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway

'Today we are very proud to announce that the Train From Spain has been accepted into the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway locomotive fleet following trials this winter. Congratulations to everyone in the project team and congratulations and thank you to all of you, our supporters.

The inaugural passenger run, for invited guests, is scheduled for 17th March, with the official naming and celebratory event over the weekend of 5th May. Some fundraising and sponsorship opportunities remain and we would still gladly welcome any donations you might wish to make. Please visit http://trainfromspain/org to find out more!' Copied from the Train from Spain's Facebook

 

Great to see such an interesting project like this reach it's conclusion, I've no doubt the locomotive will serve the R&ER well, a credit to all those that have worked on her. Perchance she may even outshine the other longtime residents there? Quite possible, at least initially, but in due course she'll probably settle in nicely and look to be just one of the family as they say.

 

Great News --- I shall attempt to get over there, camera in hand !

 

My video from the day

 

Well. I didn't manage to get over there, despite the best of intentions.

Whillan Beck looks stunning.

 

Doesn't it just! Sounds pretty damned good too...

Roll on 'Esk'! @Nigel Day must be getting quite close by now. Boy, are those two locos going look the part side by side at Ravenglass.

There's a bit in the latest video update from Blodge which will interest fans of La'al Ratty over on the FR/WHR News thread.

 

Hoping Esk will soon be out-shopped ...

 

This will take you straight to it:

 

Soon Eskie will be done. Very soon.

 

C

 

@Nigel Day - wish I could like that more than once !