The Impact of the Heatwave on Heritage Railways

Gawd, do I remember that from the mandatory coach trips my mother dragged us on, when I were knee high to a grasshopper. The only ventilation was the three square roof lights (and the seat moquette always seemed to be dry cleaned with dust from hair products and fag ash). I think I was about five when I concluded coach operators and I had very different definitions of the word 'luxury'.

Over five decades later and I've only ever resorted to coach travel twice ... and that when there was literally no option south of hiring a car for a day.

 

Watercress Line update:
Reported by Dunfanahgy Road on the MHR thread that the service tomorrow has been cancelled. The rest of the week's services will be diesel hauled.

Edit: Now posted on the Watercress Line website:


Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk

 

KESR have cancelled Tuesday's services as well. Bluebell still saying they're running though.

 

The Big Railway - LNER - has cancelled all trains between the Cross and Leeds/south of York tomorrow.

 

WSR seems to be running as normal tomorrow

 

Another update on the Watercress Line website:

"DUE TO THE RECENT WEATHER, TRAINS WILL BE DIESEL HAULED TO MITIGATE THE RISK OF LINESIDE FIRES UNTIL THE 29TH JULY

A ONE TRAIN SERVICE WILL NOW REPLACE THE PREVIOUSLY ADVERTISED SERVICE FROM THE 25TH TO THE 29TH JULY."

(Sorry about the shouting, copied and pasted as found)

 

Interesting piece in the BBC News; about future (increased) frequency of countryside fires in the UK linked to global warming; with a Professor of Fire Science commenting

EXTRACT
Guillermo Rein, Professor of Fire Science at Imperial College London, told me he expects that more powerful wildfires will gradually take place in the UK due to warmer and drier vegetation.

They will be hotter, with larger flames, and will spread faster, he suggests.

"These make wildfires more dangerous to people, homes and the environment," he adds.
ENDS

The South and the South East are highlighted in the article as being particularly vulnerable going forward. Mercifully the likes of Swanage, Mid Hants and Bluebell have diesels they can turn to utilise on such days. Although the other aspect as a Guard of nearly 30 years I’ve experienced is just how hot Mark 1 stock quickly gets when stood in the sun.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-62184978

 

Severn Valley Railway roster:

updated Tuesday 19/7/22
all-Diesel service in place of the planned Steam+Diesel service due to the current fire risk until at least Tuesday 26th July.

No announcement yet on changes to plans for the Queen's Baton Relay train on Saturday which was due to to be No 70.

Edit: Via twitter: However, our purple steam loco, No.70 ‘Elizabeth II’ WILL be in steam to haul the Queen’s Baton Relay this Saturday 23rd July. It will be assisted by a diesel locomotive in order to help prevent the chances of a lineside fire.

 

I can not see changes until there is a large amount of rain there have been wildfires in North Worcestershire the lickey hill already this week.

 

Hopefully any downpour will be preceeded by a lighter dampening .... or we'll be adding mudslides and soil scouring to list of grooviness.

 

OK so if JQP, with no knowledge of the intracacies of locomotive restoration, managed to get the same perspective of 34105 as our videographer, were it published on social media, would he say "clearly no wreck"? O/S since 1997. Outside "storage" for a"long period" I think it was up at Alresford a few years back "stored"

 

Sort of heatwave related, well lack of rain anyway.
I was wondering if even though they are a business and I guess exempt from the hosepipe ban measures do Heritage Lines get "pressured" by water companies or the local press to stop running steam services?
I guess MHR in this situation now and Bluebell, KESR and Spa Valley will be by next weekend. Even watering from column seems most times to produce over spill due to over filling or what was present in the bag. A number of course seem to drip water a lot of the time as well.
I get a sense the public in 2022 may be less compliant than in 1976 anyway on the ban, and always easy to "blame" someone else.

 

True although I was less than impressed with the woman Southern Water put up to speak to the BBC on what a great job they were doing.

 

Even after three decades of privatisation (still awaiting savings from the competition we were told privatisation brings!!), I daresay you're correct. I'd add the situation would be helped no end if planning regs insisted on paving, concreting and 'tarmacing' with adequate soak aways. No rocket science required.

 

The WSR has announced that for the next week starting 08/08/2022, all services will be diesel hauled, and the blue timetable will apply.

https://www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk/news/detail/change-of-traction

 

It is surprising that the Severn Valley are currently running steam services during a period within which the local fire service is constantly responding to wild fires within the region.

 

I think a serious look at Ashpan design is looming. Railways here in UK could do a lot worse than copy some of the Puffing Billy Railway's ideas, particularly as regards air supply and hopper door design.
Pat