West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Am I right in thinking that 4110 is a relatively recent purchase , I say relatively as in the last 3 /4 years ?

 

www.wsr.org.uk/roster

West is best

Steve

 

A lot of historical info here Paul:
https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/4110-2/

 

Gen kindly provided by wsr.org <BJ>

Mon 6 Aug 2018 to Fri 10 Aug 2018
SDJR 2-8-0 no 53808.
GWR 4-6-0 no 7822 Foxcote Manor.
GWR 4-6-0 no 7820 Dinmore Manor.
Class 115 Diesel Multiple Unit.

Sat 11 Aug 2018
SDJR 2-8-0 no 53808
GWR 4-6-0 no 7822 Foxcote Manor
GWR 4-6-0 no 7820 Dinmore Manor
Class 33 Crompton no D6566

Sun 12 Aug 2018
GWR 4-6-0 no 6960 Raveningham Hall
SDJR 2-8-0 no 53808
GWR 4-6-0 no 7820 Dinmore Manor
Class 115 Diesel Multiple Unit

 

Thank you for that Mr Greenway , it answered my question , and confirmed my suspicions . Surprised myself by not being totaly off the wall .

 

The trouble is you are relying on hired in locomotives having your own fleet between the WSRA and the PLC locomotives you can control things, and having locomotives that are big enough that can handle anything required of them is the better option, sods law means if you have mixed fleet power wise when you want certain power requirements it probably will not be available.

 

A moment ago I spotted this.

1219 running around its train? Who needs big engines?

(From WSR.org / Railcams).

 

Looks like 4561 is to stay on the line https://www.wsra.org.uk/restoring4561/ and they hope it will be back in steam in 2021.

 

Is that with 88 banking ?

 

Today 53808 did 1115 BL but 6960 did 1515 MD.

 

I do understand what you are saying Chuffington but do you think having only 2 the larger locos isn't sufficient ? The large Prairies do cope with up to 7 on , ( I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong ) . So if the WSR had 2 more large Prairies or Manors operating the service trains with the larger locos standing in First Reserve position . I have nothing against large locos but as the WSR Branch line , I would just rather see Branch line locos . I would hate to see work turned away because of the lack of motive power but if we have to sacrifice a large Prairie for a larger 8+capable loco , I for one would be disappointed .

 

"Big chufferitis" never gives up! (Sadly)

PH

 

Quite simply, the WSR needs locos suitable for the traffic being carried. There's no way the WSR can stick with train lengths seen in pre-preservation days, unless demand is halved. That said, I believe the WSR could make good use of a Small Prairie or two through the year on appropriate services.

Steve

 

The figures I have sen suggest that for a normal service train - 7 MK1's about 750hp is needed for the climbs to Crowcombe & Washford which means a reasonabkly sizes 'Chuffer' Manors have never been recorded exceeding 1000hp which suggests that they are in about the right size range

 

One thing to bear in mind in the present hot weather is that smaller engines are working much harder than larger engines on 7 coaches and are therefore more likely to throw out sparks and cause lineside fires.

 

See post 13632
PH

 

And neither do you Paul...
Why not give it a rest?
I'm at the WSR this week, and the trains I've been on have been well loaded, 7 up mk1s, oh with some decent gradients.
They are used by passengers to actually go somewhere.

Much as you hate it, the WSR does serve a purpose and does have a decent amount of custom.
It's not a flat nowhere to nowhere (very pretty and in the summer holidays, overly packed) tourist line.

 

But these are merely that, "just" tourist lines and to pretend otherwise is just another self delusion like big chufferitis. Some make more effort (and are more successful) than others at trying to recreate the past. None are, or can be, 100% successful.

PH

 

Paul - I note on the Isle of Wight Railway Facebook page an official comment that they were having to work their locos less hard as a fire precaution measure, the story being accompanied by a picture of one of the line’s largest locos. An identical response that you have poo-pooed as “big chufferitis” on the WSR.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2134909183251217&id=128859617189527

Tom

 

And, to bring it back to the WSR, I have photographs somewhere of Somerset Fire Brigade putting out a lineside fire between Crowcombe and Stogumber caused by a Manor. They were taken in either 1994 or 1995.

As I recall that (very hot & dry) summer, many WSR duties were run with diesels inside to mitigate fire risk.

If mitigations can keep steam running to meet customer expectations, and they include not succumbing to small chufferitis, I support them.