Swanage Railway General Discussion

If I remember correctly 80104 has the bolier and tanks from 80078, and a little bit of 80150 at least! So did 80078 really leave?

 

Any idea what it got from 80150 ?

 

Forgot about 80098 as well!

 

Swanage gets one over on the Bluebell?
https://twitter.com/SwanRailway/status/1377516217154600963?s=20

 

Good to see photos on facebook of 4TC DTSO 76332 with 33111 from yesterday.

 

Indeed this project does seem to be progressing quickly, with 3 of the 4 coaches now restored. (Externally at least, I realise 76322 needs some interior and electrical finishing off at Swanage).

Hopefully not too long before a 3TC set can be run, and a start made on the 4th coach.

 

It will be nice when the TC is completed, and hopefully, 33111 will be able to work with it (both hauling and propelling). The only unpleasant thing about the TC (and the London Transport one), is that between them, they have five vehicles that were involved in the Clapham Junction disaster.

 

Used to travel into Waterloo on a daily basis, so riding on a 70/80s era train will bring back good memories.
Went on one of the LU 4TC summer Saturday trains to Swanage which was good, but at one point realised how fast the 60 year old train was going on the mainline. But had a good day out.

Looking at wikipedia the Clapham junction crash should not be forgotten by the rail industry as it is important keep up safety standards (and working conditions) and keep passengers safe (who do not need reminding of crashes!).

Doubt if the refurbuished blue /grey TC unit initally will be used much, just for special occasions to represent the 70s and 80s era, and also off peak use where the push pull operation will be useful.
The 5 green mk1 coaches will probably get mainline central locking before the TC, for the Wareham to Corfe 31806 steam service to run alongside the DMUs, when the Wareham services start!, hopefully in a limited way in 2021?.
Although I understand the need to get the normal day and maybe evening operations back first.

 

I went on one of the Wareham to Swanage trains on the 4TC. I think the official policy was it would still stick to 25mph between Wareham and Worgret. That certainly wasn’t the case though, the driver was really going for it! Brought back memories of travelling on these units when in service.

I think the plan is to use the 4TC much like the DMUs. i.e low season, or when a second train needs to be run. With the 108 sold, and the 117 and bubble car committed to Wareham services, it will be useful to have the 4TC to fill the gap.

 

Sorry, but I cannot see what is "unpleasant" about the 4TC's. The Swanage unit will be formed of DTS 76275 ex 8004, TBSK 70824 ex 8013, TFK 70855 ex 8012 and DTS 76322 ex 8027.
Yes, 8027 and 8015 were the 4TC's involved in the Clapham Crash in 1988, but it says a lot that both units were able to continue in service, and coaching stock be selected for the 6REP project, which is how both of the units were selected for further use by London Transport.

 

I do not know the official policy for the mainline section but why would it be 25mph? A mainline registered loco with a WCRC driver and guard and a mainline registered coaching set so why would it be restricted to 25mph? I think my trips on the Worgret Wareham section normally seemed more than a Heritage Line speed, although memory may be clouded by numerous SWR 159 trips as well.

 

I seem to remember this question coming up previously, can't remember whether it was this thread or another. I believe 25mph is the maximum speed trains are permitted to travel it without having the doors locked. So to travel faster you'd probably need a guard to go and lock the doors before leaving one station and unlock them upon arriving at the next. A bit impractical given the number of doors on a 4TC, especially if you're not going over a sufficient distance to make the time gained by running at a higher speed offset the extra time it takes to load and unload with door locking and unlocking to do

 

I seem to recall reading that the trial season was timed for 25mph even on the main line so as to avoid any inadvertent speeding errors on the SR section


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The LU 4TC has central door locking fitted, so this isn’t an issue.

 

Yes there we Swanage stewards (as per a normal mainline trip) when the WCRC set was in use before the LU set arrived.

 

What I meant by unpleasant, is that BR considered reusing any rolling stock (even stock that suffered little or no damage) that was involved in a fatal crash. I just feel that when a train is involved in a fatal crash, every single vehicle involved should be scrapped regardless of how much or little damage they have suffered. Granted, none of the fatalities at Clapham were in the TCs (or any of the VEPs), and it is unlikely that anyone in the TCs were too badly hurt, but those individual vehicles (while 100% safe to use) now have a bad history (which could upset some people). I can think of far worse vehicles in preservation, such as 47402 (I wonder how many drivers have felt comfortable driving that 47 since 1977, given that a driver was killed in it at Farnley Junction).

 

There would only be two doors on each side of each vehicle to open and close, the centre one have to be welded shut for main line use.

 

I think that scrapping a vehicle because it has been in a fatal accident is perhaps going too far. I can think of a least one loco and carriage that would no longer be preserved if that was the rule!

 

If every train involved in a “successful” suicide was scrapped, there wouldn’t be many 444s left on SWR. Pokesdown Station has a high attrition rate.

 

Bring back the law on deodands.