71000 'Duke of Gloucester'

Please behave with the engine \/ :-#

 

Looks like normal DoG to me. Seems to have a habit of laying down a smokescreen at stations. I went over Shap behind her (him?) and it nearly blacked out Preston. Someone in the town must have dialled 999 as a couple of fire engines appeared at one point. Don't know why it is so prone, unless it has it's own special coal supply? Not a good advert.

 

Have never seen the engine like that before though! :-k

 

Must say thanks to the 71000 lads for bringing the loco- having a firing turn on it Good Friday was a privilege. Stunning piece of kit and really well looked after mechanically and cosmetically by a cracking bunch of hard working lads.

While I didn't manage to get as much smoke as that I can see how it happened, the Scotch stuff we are on at the moment is very prone to it on any loco. So coupled with 71000's reputation for smoke, this coal's very fast burning tendencies leading to a ferocious appetite for the stuff on 71000 just to keep the grate covered its hardly surprising what happened!

 

My first experiance of the Duke was on the ELR on its first ever test with passengers on the train. It was 4 coaches with a NER 060 Tender (double heading then Top n Tailing) and it had no name just "ATE PEA" chalked on the cab sides...

My Second was the top half of the ECML on the North Briton - a very fast run with 13 coaches on and still so much more to give...

 

Don't get me wrong - it's a stunning engine, probably my favourite - certainly gave me the best mainline trip I've ever experienced. Just wish it wasn't so prone to clagging like that. I wonder if there's any sort of problem with the brick arch design or getting enough secondary air in to the box when standing?

 

Couple of snaps of 71000 on Monday, she was certainly very popular with the many crowds that gathered round her.

 

Seen with a few black smokes but never that bad. My guess is either a bad slip if moved off or the fireman was too heavy with the coal and left the door shut. Guesses mind....

 

That tends to happen if youve hardly got any blower on and have chucked a load of coal towards the front end. Without the draw on the fire it effectively ends up being starved of air. Incomplete combustion occurs and you get this horrible black smoke. You would get shot for something like sat in Grosmont or Pickering.

 

is it running on the SVR this weekend?

 

Don't worry, you'd get shot if you were caught in the act at Kidderminster, Bewdley and Bridgnorth as well.... There are houses just behind the smokescreen. Although some posts here give the impression that 71000 is prone to doing this, I don't recall having this problem when I fired it last month, but there are many factors (coal for starters) that could have changed since then.

Michael H: 71000 is booked to run on Saturday and Sunday, on the Bridgnorth set.

 

Thanks Adrian

 

We're hoping to have a run behind the Duke this weekend. Is it likely to be on the first train from Bridgnorth, the 10:55? If so I make the roster as the 10:55 ex BN, 13:00 ex KD, 14:55 ex BN and 16:50 ex KD. Thanks in advance. <BJ>

 

That is pretty similar to the times it worked last Saturday when I travelled (allowing for the fact that is was timetable C then rather than B this weekend). Pretty safe bet that it will be a repeat performance.

 

Yep, you got it - those are the services that it will be on. If last weekend is anything to go by, they may get quite full.

 

I'd have thought it to be a bit of a caged tiger on a branch line like the Severn Valley.

 

I went to the SVR last Friday, just to see & ride behind the Duke. I was impressed. It was quiet running & you could tell she had lots of power in reserve!
I took a few pics whilst I was there:





& couple of favorites:


Both taken at 25mph.

 

I would argue the quiet bit!!
Monday afternoon coming up the corner to Bewdley Tunnel, from the second coach, it was rather noisy! Certainly a ooooo listen to that moment!

 

Or anywhere other than a proper mainline with speed limit significantly higher than 25mph for that matter!