Bure Valley Railway

Taxation is begging with menaces.

 

There are tseveral quotes attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes

It is true, as indicated in the last cited case, that every exaction of money for an act is a discouragement to the extent of the payment required, but that which in its immediacy is a discouragement may be part of an encouragement when seen in its organic connection with the whole. Taxes are what we pay for civilized society, including the chance to insure.

and

He did not have a curmudgeon’s feelings about his own taxes. A secretary who exclaimed ‘Don’t you hate to pay taxes!’ was rebuked with the hot response, ‘No, young feller. I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilization.’

But most tellingly

“Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” Too many individuals, however, want the civilization at a discount.

 

Following on from insurance discussion upthread:

UK watchdog goes to court to clarify coronavirus business insurance
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-...-coronavirus-business-insurance-idUSKBN22D4M9

Patrick

 

I was quoting Terry pratchett.

 

Bure Valley representative on BBC radio 2 Jeremy Vine show today highlighting probs with Insurance Company.

Sent from my SM-J330FN using Tapatalk

 

The original builders of the railway ran a garage business. Therefore many of the parts for the rolling stock are off the shelf HGV type components. Once you get used to the idea the heavy duty tow ball hitches work surprisingly well. They also built the diesel hydraulic BVR 3 in their workshop based around a Bedford truck engine..

 

The FCA are taking the insurance companies to court in September as a test case. The Bure Valley is one of the three companies to be involved as their case is a particularly strong one. Anyway, a happier time today as locos had a fire in for the first time as a select group of volunteers prepare the railway for re-opening. BVR 8 is still "running in" and everyone is looking forward to having a go on her to see how she performs after last year's work.

 

On the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Bure Valley Railway this is what greets would be passengers. A double headed train has run today for crew training purposes and to mark the occasion, but sadly no passengers. Hopefully trains will return this weekend, and maybe the planned gala will be this time next year instead.

 

BVR 8 takes water at Wroxham after double headed run with BVR 6 on the anniversary of the railway opening. (Photo Andrew Barnes)

 

Double headed test train ready to depart Wroxham on anniversary day.

 

Hi all on nat pres ive been to my 2nd heritage railway (post covid 19 easing of lockdown restrictions) the bure valley railway on pre booked tickets for the 12:15pm wroxham dep arr aylesham 1pm the only snag is though you cant choose your carriage and seat number the ticket booking team at B.V.R. do this at random when you book online and have to take what carriage and seat number they select it due to the tight covid social distancing a family can share 1 compartment for 4 if your a solo enthusiast or in a pair (split booking) you get a compartment with 3 or 2 spare seats but with plastic screens up protecting your compartment from the next 1 front or back, yes i admit its a good ride out from wroxham cos the engine i had on the 12:15pm was number 1 light blue 2.6.4. tanky and it climbs does the trackbed all the way to aylesham anyhow i got to aylesham and managed to catch the dark blue number 6 tender 2.6.2. loco on the 3pm dep aylesham arr 3:45pm at wroxham cos there were spare seats available on this service and tickets available to buy at the counter surprisingly but had to pay a extra £10 for a single or otherwise i would have to go back on the 2pm with 2.6.4. Tanky what came from wroxham on (i dident realise it was a 2 steam train service on) and this is why i decided to make a day of it and catch number 6 loco 2.6.2. I recommend the B.V.R. to familys or solo enthusiasts who are looking for a cheap good day out if there having a staycation nearby in northfolk i enjoyed it and will keep help funding heritage railways throu- gh this covid 19 crisis so they keep running ready to fight strong for 2021 when things may get better with the covid 19 crisis.
Davo 56F

 

Court case (BVR not mentioned) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53465972

Patrick

 

The court case has come earlier than expected. BVR is one of seven companies I believe the FCA are using as they are regarded as particularly strong cases. Should BVR win it is expected that the insurer will appeal. That would take place in November probably. Should BVR win then, payment after loss adjuster visits and the like could be any time from February to May. Not a lot of use to a company that needs it to keep staff employed over the winter. A six train a day service starts in August to hopefully carry lots of passengers. Station numbers are limited to 60 so no train will carry more than that. When one summer train can carry up to 200 people at times, then obviously numbers and income are right down. But it's a start, and the management desperately want to take enough money to avoid laying staff off over winter. Oh, and the insurance has just had to be paid for this year - it's an eye watering amount that could buy you a locomotive!

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54158830

Potentially good news.

 

https://www.ft.com/content/6eaab06d-463e-4e7a-871e-5bbeb7aa510b

"The judgment considered 21 wordings, and reached different conclusions for each"!

Patrick

 

A statement on a crowd funding page setup yesterday:

"After suffering huge loss of revenue in 2020 and still not having received any settlement from insurers for its business interruption claim the Bure Valley Railway has now suffered the failure of two of it’s locomotive boilers requiring 2 new replacement boilers to be ordered at possibly the worst financial time in the railway’s history. Please support us if you can. We need to get these locomotives back in service to ensure we can run our services when the railway is permitted to reopen. Thank you in advance for your support."

The locomotives affected are BVR 6 "Blickling Hall" & BVR 7 "Spitfire" which will both be essential if the BVR are to operate a summer service this year. Both boilers were condemned within 4 weeks of each other, one was mid-ticket. The BVR will greatly appreciate any donations made to assist during what is possibly the biggest challenge the railway has encountered since opening. Link shown below.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/bure-val...WNZizutLaQhPAffu02O2X08LwwFYpwjQVRJofECfCy4tM

 

I think it is fair to say BVR has had some challenging times in its 30 years, and this one is up there with them. Covid has affected all railways, but to have two apparently sound boilers fail at this time is sheer bad luck. Ironically, the boiler regime is so good at BVR as well these days, that the failures can only be due to the hammering the boilers got in their early days, and the aggressive Welsh coal of the last few years. I've put a few quid to the boiler fund, and if anyone has got a spare tenner or more it will be gratefully received and help this fantastic little railway weather the storm.

 

The failure is probably due to a construction issue, it's just been exacerbated by other factors. Winson Engineering didn't exactly have the best reputation.

There was a similar issue with the boiler on David Lloyd George which is of a similar vintage from a different manufacturer. Luckily caught much earlier. The method of welding stays at the time made it difficult to get a good weld right in the root. So you get cracks propagating from there. They were changed to the style used on the continent and now more common over here too. Since then there have been no further problems.

Tim

 

As many others are using Welsh coal without apparent ill effects I would be interested to know how you feel that the recent boiler failures are attributable to "the aggressive Welsh coal"?
Cheers,
Ray.

 

This is what Andrew Barnes had to say.

"The original boilers date from 1994. They had a very hard early life due to the appalling original draughting on the ZB’s as built. The tube plates were too thick at 23mm until we reduced them to 16mm we were replacing tubes every two years. This was made worse by the absence of appropriate boiler water treatment. Although I instigated the changes to the draughting and new tube plate together with effective water softeners and treatment the damage to the boilers had been done and reduced their life expectancy. The final adverse impact has been erosion through the high sulphur content in the welsh coal."

In the first few weeks of using Welsh coal, superb though it is, firebars were being eaten at a rate of knots. Whereas it was relatively uncommon to have to change a bar, is was becoming a weekly occurrence. This was solved by adding a few shovels of shingle onto the grate on light up. The clinker clings to it in lumps. I'm a driver and I haven't changed a bar for a year or more. So there is definitely something different about this coal.