North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Not sure if it has sanders 60044. I was more interested in the front bogie and steam pipe arrangement at the front end, to be honest. Quite different to the LNER locos I normally see.

The weather was good up here yesterday, so I think it was unlikely to be bad conditions underfoot, more likely crew inexperience with that type of loco (this was what the station foreman indicated was the cause of the delay when I spoke to him at Grosmont later on in the day). Not sure if this was correct though.

Anne

 

I can't see the NYMR letting any loco out without working sanders, tbh, and especially at this time of year, when railhead conditions can be awful, even on what on the face of it is a nice day.

 

A couple of locos have visited without working sanders, 7822 definitely. I'm sure there was another one with sand hoppers full of damp sand, as its home line didn't require them to be used.

 

Was that at this time of year though? If so, that does surprise me. Possibly 8 on up Goathland Bank, with all that greenery around? That would be brave, as Sir Humphry would say...

 

7822 was at the autumn gala a few years ago. Slipped to a stand at Green End but managed to get going again.

 

I don't think any of the locos that have come from Llangollen had working sands. I also remember when 71000 visited, the loco was prepped by the support crew and I specifically asked that the sands were working when I got on the loco, getting an affirmative response. On the climb to Goathland it started to slip so the sands went on. Soon after it slipped to a standstill. The owners rep then said, " It has probably run out of sand, we never put any in when it is on a heritage railway because it never needs any." I responded with " It's the equivalent of taking 13 up Shap. Would you take on Shap without sands?" They used 12 bags of sand filling them before the next trip.

 

That's the one I was thinking of! I knew there was another loco, a 'famous' one, that didn't use sand. Cheers Steve.

 

AIU, the NYMR Management "could see no further use for them".... or words to trhat effect. Sadly, they only seem to be able to see use for TTOs, BTOs and a the buffet cars. There's no interest in heritage stock and the line is working hard to become a Dartmouth clone - witness the rapidly proceeding elimination of Mk 1 corridor stock too.

 

LNERCA statement about the two carriages from 12th October https://www.facebook.com/LNERCA/posts/2721484521204328

My bold

 

Surprising that, you’d think at Llangollen they would be very useful for any larger loads up Berwyn. Whilst not quite in the same league as the NYMR, the climb up to Berwyn isn’t exactly easy and the start from Berwyn must be one of the more difficult on a heritage railway.

 

What exactly are the NYMR management supposed to do? Serious overcrowding on many Whitby trains suggests that the public, who pay the fares wish to see the maximum possible numbers of seats, meanwhile the practicalities and costs of having sufficient carriages certified for use on Network Rail impose further constraints. As others have posted these carriages are privately owned and not ideal for the NYMR's traffic much better they go somewhere to be repaired and used. There is also the issue of siding space where until the new carriage facilities are completed these will be even more restricted whilst works take place so the line is further constrained unless it accepts the costs of off site storage. Managing any heritage railway is a very difficult balancing act where unfortunately the needs of day to day viable operation will always leave many of the "wouldn't it be nice" projects loved of enthusiasts lower down the priority list.

 

So far as I'm aware, the sands on the Q6 (T2) don't work and haven't for some time, however given the nature of the loco, its not normally an issue.

 

The NYMR is run by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust, a charitable body that seeks donations, volunteers and public money and is a registered museum. If it is to become another Dartmouth clone then fine, but should stand on its own two feet and allow all the sources of funding to be applied to another organisation that tries harder at presenting its heritage .

 

Presumanly this is different from being an Arts Council Accredited Museum which is quite a difficult status to achieve and which relatively few railways gain.

 

Whilst I'm disappointed at the loss of these two Gresley coaches, I can also understand the problems faced by the NYMR management. The Railway has to survive; if it didn't these two coaches and a lot more would be looking for homes. As the WSR has found out, you can only cling to the dream for so long before reality kicks in. the days of railway preservation are long gone. Being an old hand, it is something I very much regret but accept because I can't see a viable alternative. The success of running to Whitby is a two-edged sword. It brings in significantly more income than the Pickering-Grosmont railway ever would and it is money sorely needed to enable the infrastructure to be renewed. The downside of that success is significant overcrowding of the most popular trains meaning that priorities have to be focused on minimising that overcrowding. The teaks have been successful on the less busy service and i would like to se that continued. However, where you have a choice of overhaul a low capacity Gresley or a high capacity Mk. open, it really is a no-brainer. From conversations I've had recently, it does seem that the Railway is looking to up train lengths to 8 coaches to help with the overcrowding.
At least, once the carriage stable is operational, vehicles not in use will be largely kept away from the elements whilst they await a better day, even though that might not meet with the owners wishes to see them running.

 

No need to be so sniffy Paul! According to the Arts Council website, there are 30 accredited museums that come up just from doing a quick search of "rail" including the NRM and Steam in Swindon, smaller railway museums such as the SVR's Kiddemrinster museum, the one at the Bluebell, railway centres such as Didcot and Buckingham, and whole railways such as Rhyl Miniature Railway, Nene Valley Railway, Ribble Steam Railway and NYMR.

 

Not being "sniffy" merely curious. Accreditation is something any leisure or museum railway, (I dislike the description "heritage") which aspires to National Lottery funding will need to consider acquiring very seriously. Be warned, there is quite a lot involved.

 

I'm not such a luddite that I expect all trains to be made up of pre-Mk 1 stock, indeed I'd like to see it used more sparingly, on low season trains or special occasions. What concerns me most is that there seems to be no vision that aspires to the railway being able to do something out of its normal day to day offering. I can understand the PLC part of the structure wanting to be as commercial as possible, but the Trust Board should be acting as the balance to that and ensuring that heritage is not elbowed aside - and apart from matters of infrastructure and colours of loco paint it has fauiled to do that. As an accredited museum, where's the heritage plan?

 

There is nothing "luddite" at all about wishing all trains to be made up of pre-Mk.1 stock. However, it is unreasonable to expect them to be. If the line concerned hasn't got any such equipment, then boring old Mk. 1s it has to be.

Nevertheless, if a railway chooses only to use the interesting stuff but rarely, it is disappointing. It is also a little disappointing if interesting vehicles are disposed of for whatever reason.