West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Anyone able to enlighten me as to what is in the Williton down yard neck at the moment, Looks like a southern region driving car of some sort, Hampshire, Hastings or E.M.U. ?

 

Not wishing to appear a numpty but I cannot find the purple events timetable on WSR site, I may get the chance to visit tomorrow and that day is listed as an event, can anyone elucidate?
Short notice I know and obviously they are now closed but any help would be appreciated,
Cheers,

Chris

 

On https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/timetables
09 10 11 June shown as Sixties Diesel Gala
Details on https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/events/detail/sixties-diesel-gala
03 04 05 June normal blue timetable.

 

Thanks for that used2be, yep I am a numpty as I got my dates befuddled I am a week out

 

Just a reminder that today marks the start of our 3 day Diesel Gala running until Saturday.

6 diesels in action including 2 visitors D8568 and D7612 all working high mileage diagrams to an intensive timetable. Double headed Hymeks on Saturday night.

Tickets available on the day if you decide to visit.

 

Saturday looks promising weather wise for the gala with the added bonus of seeing Britannia en route from Taunton to Kingswear and return. <BJ>

 

...from Bishops Lydeard to Taunton and Kingswear and return to Bishops Lydeard.

 

With the class 35 hymek being withdrawn with a oil leak , steam has been brought in for Saturday,
Is there any reason why the 3 car dmu at minehead is not being used for the diesel gala. Is it on the repair list .

 

Yes the DMU is under repair.

 

Many thanks for the update.

 

I made a note of this coach in passing today. It's formerly BSK 34500 now carrying the number RDB975076.

http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=5012

 

I did the Gala Thursday and Friday both days excellent and and had some great runs with the locos,enjoyed the Clayton.Shame about D7017 failing but the bonus there was some extra moves with D6566.Some trains lightly loaded but I hope the overall figures are good.It was great to visit the line again,congrats to the Gala team and hopefully next year again please.

 

Thanks for the info Ian.

 

Class 47 47077 (D1661, 47613, 47840) ‘NORTH STAR’ is too heavy for the current axle load limit and is away at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway).
and yet mega train with 12 coaches and two locos, which were used on the steam gala . Can someone explain how this works please .

 

The key word is "axle load", which is about the weight on a single pair of wheels, not the total weight of the locomotive. The mega train will be heavy, but worked by locomotives within the axle limits for the line.

The class 47 is between 112t and 125t, carried on 6 axles - roughly 20t per axle using some over-simplified maths. The Gresley U1 Garrett was 200t carried on 10 axles - so also 20t axle loads.

 

To be fair it’s not doing much in North Yorkshire at the moment.

 

The LNER Garrett U1 2-8-0 + 2-8-0 according to RCTS volume 9B
Weight (full) 178tons 3cwt
Max axle load 18tons 6cwt

This with a grate area of 56.5 sq.ft and a total evap of 3377 sq.ft.

As a comparison A4 4-6-2
Weight (full) engine 102tons 19cwt
Tender: corridor 64tons 3cwt, non corridor 60tons 7cwt.
Max axle load 22tons 0cwt

Grate area 41.25sq.ft
Total evap 3325 sq.ft.

As an aside this partly explains why Garrett designs found favour in many parts of the
World i.e lower axle loads enabling use on lightly laid track and large grates to
accommodate lower calorific fuels.

Returning to the mega trains, the Manors were of course designed to have a lower axle
load and therefore available to work over the Cambrian lines and some cross country
routes eg Cheltenham to Banbury on the “Port to Ports “ express. Similarly with the
BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0s used on the UP mega train working..

Michael Rowe

 

A consideration far too often overlooked, as is the increase in money tied up in ever heavier section rail. In South Africa, practicly the last duty of the GEA Garratts was in relaying the lines on their historic stamping grounds to suit their diesel replacements.

 

Thank you for confirming the numbers - a much bigger locomotive, yet with a lighter axle load.