4079 Pendennis Castle

What I meant was, they don't have enough staff to cover things that might be considered a priority. As a long time GWS member (but sadly no longer an active volunteer)I am aware that their priority is to have a small engine for the 'branch line' and medium/large one for the main demonstration line. Broad gauge is 3rd or lower on the list of priorities.
They struggle to fill the roster for operating days, and if your most experienced loco maintenance/restoration staff are covering footplate duties then . . .

 

Agreed! I'm so used to seeing the same self-serving arguments, so apologies if I jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Your last sentence is bang on the money. (Which begs the question, how are they supposed to create an effective support crew in such a situation?)

 

I would have liked the broad gauge to be second on their list of priorities.

 

Actually so would I but I vaguely remember something a few years ago about the broad gauge track needed quite a bit of work doing to it. If that is still true then perhaps the state of that is also influencing the priorities with regard to overhauling Firefly.

 

The broad gauge part of the mixed gauge track had a lot of work done on it when Fire Fly was running, and I believe it's in pretty good condition. However the standard gauge rail needs a lot of work. Or in other words, you can run broad gauge trains on the mixed gauge, but not standard gauge trains.

 

So 2 thirds of it is

So 2 thirds of it is in good condition.

 

Was the standard gauge element ever used/does it need to be used? Otherwise its just a useful visualisation?

 

The standard gauge part is occasionally used to drag all of the broad gauge stock out of the way of the transfer shed, using a diesel. The last time there was an attempt at using part of it 'properly' was in 2009, unfortunately it decided to re-gauge itself while a Toad was passing over! If you look on Youtube there may be some footage of 1338 shunting, during the 'All in a Day's Work' gala that year.

The issue with the whole mixed gauge setup, is that when it was first conceived it was really just intended to be an illustrative example. Rocket ran over it in about 1980, and Iron Duke in 86, but that was the only time it was tested until Fire Fly came along in 2005. Having the standard gauge section as a working running line isn't essential, but it would add another element of interest, if nothing else it allows you to do a bit of shunting at that part of the site. Also, as has been pointed out, two thirds of the mixed gauge has been overhauled, so it would be a shame not to do the last third. At the moment it obviously isn't much a of priority, but I believe it's still the intention to extend the broad gauge in the future, so it might get sorted one day.

 

Getting back to the subject of 4079, I think that this post hits the nail on the head. 4079 is a highly regarded machine because of its performance in the exchange trials with the LNER and also for reaching 96mph on the special 1964 run to Plymouth. It also ran on the main line in preservation before departing for Australia.

However, Tyseley now boasts a celebrity working Castle in the shape of 7029 and 5043, while unceremoniously sent off to Barry for scrapping in 1964, has acquired celebrity status since its return to steam (After travelling on the "Cheltenham Flyer " run of 2013, I would say without any hesitation that 5043 is my favourite Great Western loco) and will hopefully be gracing the main line again before too long. Is there scope for yet another Castle on the main line, even one with 4079's impressive pedigree, given that there will also be 5029 back in action soon, not to mention 5080 one of these days? This is the dilemma for Didcot. One can imagine that many hearts will say "Yes" as 4079 is so special, but the practicalities, not to mention the cost, make it a very difficult decision to make.

 

Mainline steam brings joy to many. The smallest proportion of those joyous souls are actually on the train. The thousands of linesiders who specifically go to watch and photograph, and the tens of thousands of ordinary civilians who simply pause and smile are all beneficiaries of the effort and expenditure of maintaining locomotives in ticket.
But giving free pleasure to the masses is a poor business strategy. If I get to see 4079 at Bath or Bristol, I'm considerably less likely to make the pilgrimage to Didcot just to see her. I'm also unlikely to shell out £100+ to ride on the mainline because I can't really afford it, my wife might kill me, and in an air conditioned mk2 carriage, can't really see, hear or smell the locomotive up front.

I would trek up to the GlosWarks or SVR to see, and ride behind a Castle, and take my boys along too. It would cost the same as the mainline ticket for one, and wouldn't bring the same accusation of selfishness.
I would rather not see another of the best looking locomotives mutilated because Network Rail don't like steam. Its bl**** PENDENNIS CASTLE, for bob's sake. She shouldn't be chopped about.

Would it be worse, business-wise to lease her out? Seems like a mainline cert is quite costly to run 50 days a year, but I have no real idea.

 

Where to?! I can't imagine that Didcot has any space left!

 

Do many locos run 50 days a year on the mainline?

 

Looks like Didcot has some major track problems: I just tried Google maps to see where the broad gauge could be extended, and found this. Reckon their track gang had better get busy fast... -

 

It looked a bit like that after a diesel gala a few years ago! There are a couple of different options for extending the broad gauge, one of which I recall, would be to combine it with the branch access line. I think some alternatives would depend on whether more land became available. I suspect that some of the longer term plans for the centre will be published in the Echo within the near future. In truth, the broad gauge was really laid on the wrong side of the transfer shed, but such is life.

Going back to 4079, I have to say that I'm not keen on the idea of it being chopped about either. If both it and 7027 were to end up on the mainline, then it would leave 4073 as the only one unaltered. Personally I'd like to see it restored more closely back to it's 1920's appearance, as it's currently something of a hybrid. I think having the little details which were unique to the early Castles, plus the garter crest on the tender, would help celebrate its pedigree and mark it out as something special - but that's just me!

 

I was just guessing.
However, according to Steam Railway's Mainline Diary , twixt Nov 16 and year's end:
61306- 8 days
60009- 6 days
60163- 4 days
7029- 3 days
6233- 4 days
35028- 2 days
60103- 4 days
43505-15 days
which is 8 locomotives, 46 running dates, which sort of averages a bit less than one day per loco per week. I lack the resources to try and do a whole year calculation, and I bet someone on here can give a far better picture

 

Thanks - thats rather more than I'd guessed at.

 

I kept a log of all the runs captured by UK Steam (as they ran, not as advertised) over the approx 20 years of the website. Excluding regular runs (the Jacobite and NYMR) I don't think that a single engine ever reached 50 runs in a year in that period. The most was around 40.

Don't forget that this time of year tends to get a small number of engines doing a lot of runs, as part of (generally) services from London to chocolate box towns and cities. In January to March and October very little runs, and in the summer season there are a lot of engines fighting for the work.

Many of the services advertised end up not running, or running with a diesel.

Sent from my SM-J330FN using Tapatalk

 

As a matter of interest what difference does the Jacobite service make to the stats? For 2020 they seem to be running twice a day, 5 days a week over many months.

 

The K1, 62005, worked 63 trips to Mallaig and by the time it reached Grosmont in mid September had clocked over 6,000 miles this year. I suspect that Ian Riley's three Black 5s would have covered something similar, if not more. I understand that B1 61306 has covered something in the order of 11,000 miles this year. This level of operating is not obtained by every main line but it is achieved by some..

Peter