Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

Steam Illuminations service last night

506 on Steam Illuminations from Bighton Lane by Stephen Morley, on Flickr

 

Latest YouTube video is now available to watch. Nice to see what’s happening at Ropley.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-67wt3SpcRnyegwI7EhPRQ

 

It's still good practice to do a gauging run regardless of whether similar locos have been successful - you never know whether for one reason or another one loco might have a little extra width that makes the difference. Plus as these locos will pivot in different places when going round curves due to differing lengths and positions of fixed wheel bases, and (if memory serves me correctly) Alton and Alresford both have curves on their platforms, that needs to be taken into account

 

I dont know if this applies at any locations on the MHR but points next to platforms are one area where only taking the loco to the location will tell you if it will fit (or not!)

There was a photo of a King as Shrewsbury inching forward taken in the last few years as they didnt know if it would hit the platform as it went over the points

 

Both are good valid points.
I, on the other hand, was waiting for the "We'll have to bubblewrap the platform, it's a Western engine" snipe.
It seems the old rivalries still exist in some peoples eyes.

 

And so, dear reader, as another Saturday dawned atop the hill, three liked minded souls gathered to continue the battle with LMS van M517317.....

After last weeks cock up, we eased ourselves into the day by tackling the London end floor planks that sit over the gusset plates mob handed, to bring them into line with the country end ones..... the job itself was straight forward, but the original piece of angle iron decided to give us poblems one way or another - so much so, it was eventually that it is no longer fit for purpose, so new will have to be fitted!

Once that job was done, it was time to move onto the door runners........

One of the problems we had last week was trying to work out levels, as the sidings are on a downward gradient, and even though we were marking out against the van, it plays with your mind, so I dug out a couple of builders levels with angle finder from home - these proved more than useful during the day!

So, once the three missing lower door runners had been located, we lined all four up & guess what - all four were different in some way, so at least now we know what were dealing with.....

After last weeks headache, for a change, I drew the easier straw, by having to clean up the main door runner to assess what state it is in...... which basically meant taking it back to bare metal & the only way was an angle grinder with wire brush attachment.

The other two therefore had the task of trial fitting the north side lower door runners...... thankfully with all four door runners in play, last weeks percieved cock up actually played into their hands, and the holes only needed minor adjustment to take the the door runners - but the latest headache now comes from now having to adapt floor planks where the bolts will sit to allow air flow and access......

By the end of the day, the top of the main door runner had been taken back to bare metal, along with about half the underside, and the two north side lower runners had been trial fitted.

Next week looks like being fun........

Pics of last nights steamy lighty trains.......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/52527460248/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/52527387840/in/dateposted-public/

The top door runner almost completely back to bare metal..... given the amount of rust behind it, its in remarkably good condtion!



The lower runners in position, and level to the van & not the ground!

 

That is why steam locomotives operating on Network Rail are prohibited from using crossovers situated between platforms. I bet there are plenty on here who didn't know that minor detail.

Peter

 

I for one didn’t. (Though I was more surprised that Network Rail actually had any crossovers - I thought all pointwork had been ruthlessly expunged …

Tom

 

It’s a new one on me, as well. Does this only refer to crossovers or anywhere where there is a turnout adjacent to a platform face, not necessarily a crossover. I can think of various locations where such exist And my knowledge of today’s network is quite basic.

 

What about Cambridge p'forms 1 & 4

 

The wording that appears on the STNs for all steam movements, along with any other restrictions pertanent to the locos involved states "Steam Locomotives must not use crossovers between platforms".
There is no mention of single turnouts - if there was a problem with these at a particular location there would be a prohibit on that particular line. The ruleing dos not apply to locations such as Cambridge where the turnouts are not between platforms in the sense intended here. The only location that I can think of where steam does very occasionally use such a crossover is at Morpeth, for access to the Blythe and Tyne route. Here special authority would be given for a specific loco to use the crossover along with the relevant goods line authority to run a passenger train over the line. It is not a ruleing that I have ever known to cause a problem, which is why it is little known about among the enthusiats fraternity, but it is there on every steam STN (Special traffic Notice).

Peter

 

41312 has arrived at Buckfastleigh ...

 

Apologies if I missed something - is this for repairs or running or both?

 

Running

 

With the recent events I’m surprised the MHR can afford to spare 41312. I suppose the logic is it’s too small for the steam lights and Santa trains, which is all that’s running at the moment?

 

If it's going to be sitting cold in the yard, might as well go and earn you some money somewhere else....

 

Provided it is “going to be sitting cold in a yard” of course. If you are tight for motive power, often you would be juggling maintenance around nominal downtime - for example plan various light maintenance jobs (and stuff like annual boiler exam) for your smaller locos over the winter do they are ready for your shoulder period trains in the spring; meantime your bigger locos do the heavy Christmas trains but then get their light maintenance in the spring so they are ready for the peak summer services etc.

I’m sure the MHR know what they are doing of course; just making a general point that frequently just because a loco isn’t being used in traffic doesn’t automatically mean it is available for use elsewhere.

Tom

 

I think the focus is on overhauling Dave (Thomas) in time for earning income next season.

 

If you look carefully at the photo above you may just be able to see a very long piece of elastic. The other end is firmly attached to the buffer stops at Ropley

 

If that's the case then all that stored energy will probably catapult it beyond Ropley, and it'll end up on the Bluebell.