Steam Ban Nationwide

They have not been running steam since 3rd June or thereabouts following a linside fire. From what I have seen elsewhere online, there was a period without anything running, followed by a replacement bus service (!) and more recently, the runs have been diesel hauled.....

 

A little breakout on the SVR, where two fire crews were hand on quickly to extinguish any major threat. The farmer and fire crews were less than impressed with the SVR for still running steam during the present dry spell.

 

Trouble is, every outbreak starts as "little". Just glad this one was contained in time.

Perhaps either barbecue smoke stops rain or there's some lower limit to how many simultaneous outdoor events are required to guarantee a downpour?

 

I think that side of the line with the fire is classed as a nature reserve, which I guess also makes them unpopular.

 

Sorry chaps, couldn’t resist

 

In addition there is the Animal Park with its mix of animals that fires would threaten; IMHO the SVR should have provided Diesel Locomotives as pilot between Kidderminster and Bewdley during the present weather but one assumes that the SVR made a risk assessment that favoured continuing steam operation.

 

It was their war weekend, so I guess they wanted to keep it as authentic as possible. They have now suspended there steam services according to their FB statement.

 

There's a school of thought, amongst some environmental types, that natural wildfires are a vital part of any ecosystem ..... and .... global warming debates aside, none of us ever knows how weather will behave over time? I sure as hell don't. Does the name Denis Howell ring any bells?

[\START of rant]

Heads out of the sand folks ..... however we may slice it, bottom line is that legal (i.e. big league financial) responsibility for firethrowing by antiquated machinery is properly that of those operating it, which only enjoys public acceptance when operating without any incident for which they carry the can .... a deliberate choice of term, as the court of public opinion would be deployed at lightning speed by anyone with an axe to grind and a single iota of media nous. Rely on it - We're in the Social Media age which exists, whether we use it or not and is a double edged sword, whether we like it or not.

As things stand, from my (admittedly warped) point of view, it's almost just as well our railways are constantly clobbered by errant motorists, professional or otherwise. Score a few for the sympathy vote!

Bearing in mind who benefits most from any litigation, regardless of outcome, if any incident came to court, the only likely legalistic wriggle room preventing a crippling fine ... or worse, comes from words such as "reasonable" and "realistic". There'd be likely be an equally crippling rise in insurance premiums too. As the old saying has it "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Sometimes, folk wisdom is worth our while listening to and btw ..... hoping for the best isn't a viable strategy for survival anywhere in the known universe.

[\END of rant]

(just popping off for a quiet lie down in a darkened room for a bit)
Howard

 

I think that has changed again as off today back to Diesels until after the weekend

 

In the current weather conditions the grinding of axes should be avoided in case of unnecessary conflagration from the resulting sparks !!!

 

most vegetation control was done by the locos . constant grass fires meant embankments never grew to any great height , and trees rarely lived long enough to become a problem .
in summer , embankments were always a patchwork of green and black.
I imagine farmers tried to avoid planting cereal crops close to the rails

 

Yes - Minister for Drought, appointed by Jim Callaghan in 1976. It rained shortly afterwards.

https://www.national-preservation.c...02-07-18-at-least.1178233/page-4#post-2187397

 

Well that didn't last long - I've had an e-mail from our operating department saying that we're back to diesel haulage from tomorrow until Sunday.

Bob.

 

I visited Puffing Billy in Aus a few years ago (fantastic line - in my top 5 by the way), and they run a trolley close behind anything steam hauled when it’s dry to look for fires and put them straight out. I’m not sure how they handle having it in section, but I remember them saying they have to hang far enough back that anything that starts will be noticeable.

A lot of the line goes through eucalyptus forest, so as the driver said ‘if it goes up, the whole mountain goes up...’ I know there were some fairly devastating forest fires in the Dandenongs not too long ago, so it really is something they have to be very responsible about...

Wonder how easy it would be to run a wickham in section behind steam hauled trains over here? Do any lines have provision for that type of working?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Dan - you mention Puffing Billy which reminds me of my last visit to Aus in Easter 2009. This is the fire patrol vehicle which follows the train on the Victorian Goldfields Railway as the train sets off from Castlemaine for Maldon in northern Victoria. I suspect that the line is operated on staff and ticket so here the train takes a ticket and the lorry (truck in Australia) follows with the staff. The loco is a J class 2-8-0 built by VF in 1953 - and is an oil burner to boot!
It is of course easier to do when you only have one train, making two return trips a day.

Peter

 

And boy, did it need to. Every rain dance for months hadn't worked ..... even Wimbledon! The worst of it was melting tarmac sticking to your shoes, but on the upside, carpet sales were very good that year.

 

At last year's war weekend they fitted a pannier tank with a mock spark arrester as used at munitions depots. How quickly could they make a working version?

 

The NYMR has vehicular access along most of its length (a legacy of once being double track.) In these conditions, a PW road vehicle follows each train to catch any fires that may have started. Contrary to what some think, the most likely source of fires is from the ashpan. That's why locos are fitted with mesh screens and have ashpan sprinklers fitted.

 

I'm sure that you are right about ashpans Steve (and those screens aren't half a pain when it comes to disposal!) but I suspect that worst of all are hopper ashpans and bad track. A good jolt over a bad joint can bounce the hopper door momentarily, but just enough for a hot little nasty to escape.

Peter

 

Email from Saphos this morning stating the 'William Shakespeare' of 21st July is postponed until 8th September. Citing 'no significant rainfall' forecast between now and the 21st, rendering steam locomotive operations unlikely. Full refund offered to those who can't make the new date.