The Great Britain XVI - 13/04/24 to 21/04/24

On an annoying note three chaps followed me into the field at Selside Shaw but sadly they/or knocked the wall down next to the gate into the field but didn’t seem bothered enough to put the stones back . The wooden gate was broken so you had to be careful going over the wall and we wonder why farmers don’t like enthusiasts !

 

44871 hauled the first part of the tour around Kent with load 10. From Southall 44871 would lead 45407 with load 11. This means that 44871 would have had to come off the train at Southall to allow 45407 and it's support coach to couple up to the train. 44871 would then couple to the front of 45407 so that it was the lead loco. Hope this helps. <BJ>

 

Knew the slow lines were closed last Sunday, hence the rare sight of them running on the fast. My only worry was that there might have been an engineers train/track machine parked up in the possession blocking the view.

 

i went to Carlisle yesterday to see 'The Great Britain XVI' and was able to see all the only 3 locos that are being used this year 34067 Tangmere, 44871 & 45407 The Lancashire Fusilier
https://tinyurl.com/2psj27nh
https://tinyurl.com/pfz8dp55

Neil

 

WD40 is wonderful stuff for many situations, but I have never heard of that use before.

 

That's all down to that very naughty Shep Woolley, he told me that the WD stood for "Wonderful Deodorant." I've since found out that it's short for Water Displacement. But perhaps its uses are not fully understood and this is a true anecdote. I had a cousin, no longer with us, who used to rub it into his arthritic knee and was convinced it improved the mobility. He wouldn't accept that it was probably the massaging that helped, rather than the WD40. But he believed it worked and so, for him, it did.

 

Photos from the morning of Day 2, the Black 5s seen racing along towards Bromsgrove at Oddingley.

 

This afternoon’s climb from Strathcarron to Luib summit near Achnasheen was absolutely wonderful listening from the first coach behind the support. With ‘continuous’ jointed track it transported me back many decades. Although I had serious concerns for staying with the trip, today has been exceptionally good for me.

 

On the flip side though Martin, the argument could be made that if was this standard that was set, why has it been so difficult to maintain it?

 

That axe you are grinding must be pretty sharp by now

 

When was the last time steam faced out of Kyle of Lochalsh? 1st October 2000?

Black 5 No. 44871 - Erbusaig by Jonathon Gourlay, on Flickr

Black 5 No. 44871 - Loch a' Chuillin by Jonathon Gourlay, on Flickr

And Gleneagles the previous day:

Black 5's No. 44871 and 45407 - Gleneagles by Jonathon Gourlay, on Flickr

 

The standards have been maintained but people forget that the requirements keep getting changed hence requiring continual upgrades. This seems to be the problem with the current obsession of comparing WCRC with LSL; WCRC rolling stock met the 1960s standards when purchased and has been upgraded as appropriate at its own expense to retain main line access whilst LSL rolling stock met the current standards because when bought it met the current standards hence is cheaper to upgrade as the standards (i.e. CDL) are upgraded. Sadly it's like the computers that many of us are using to post to this thread; we buy with one version of software but once captured the software is upgraded thus introducing incompatibility with some of the additional programs that we bought (e.g internet; photography editing; printer drivers etc). Given that difference is it any wonder that WCRC feels unwilling to upgrade. Why should it change to meet new standards; why can't the new standards be set to meet WCRC's needs especially since - as noted above - the Jacobite is restricted by geography to 40 mph and doesn't travel with passengers at any greater speed ? Why impose a rule to meet a problem that doesn't exist hence my belief that a route-specific exemption similar to that granted to heritage lines should be applied.

 

Crackin shots Jonny,just a nice height too.

 

Fred,does the word progress exist in your vocabulary?

 

Progress is not necessarily towards a desirable objective!

 

WCRC have an opportunity to contribute feedback to proposed changes to standards and, as I agree in large part with your view that some of these changes in standards are disproportionate, I would want them to engage effectively with the consultation processes. Having read the ruling by Mrs Justice Thornton, one of the things that leapt out at me was the poor quality of that engagement - in particular what she had to say about the risk assessments.

My issue, as someone who uses other operators' services on a network shared with other operators including WCRC, comes with the way that WCRC then appear to be looking to avoid complying with mandatory standards in force on the network. Regardless of my feelings about CDL on charter stock (say), I expect that operators will abide by the mandatory standards applicable to the network.

I also disagree, massively, with your view that standards should be set in aspic. If we are talking about mechanical standards, I agree that legacy standards should apply unless the vehicle is so unsafe that it can't be operated at all (though let's note that Mk1s are subject to exemptions because they were assessed as being precisely so dangerous). But we're talking here about standards that relate to how people interact with the trains. Such standards are much more reasonable to make common, in the way that the railway rulebook has always sought to minimise exceptions in favour of general rules.

 

I'm surprised by the paucity of pictures and videos on here, with the tour now in Day 6.

 

If we're talking from the lineside, there's 3 factors that I've experienced both personally and being part of the wider community:

1 - There are a dedicated band of photographers and video takers who are chasing the entire tour. They tend to not upload their material as each day ends, but will collate at the end of the tour. Indeed, some are for professional outlets so you'll see the material in their products (e.g PSOV, Steaming Around Yorkshire etc..)

2 - The unsettled weather. This is one of the most difficult winter's I've experienced in the last decade to reliably look at a weather forecast the day before an outing, and the actual experienced weather match to it on the day. Indeed, the sunshine we had for Kyle yesterday afternoon only was represented in a forecast first at 7am yesterday morning. Of course, you can say "You've got to risk it to be rewarded", but for some, you're risking a 450 mile journey on little more than dying enthusiasm (see point 3). Indeed, I live about 3 1/2hrs from Kyle, and part of the reason I went up was to see friends from Skye as part of the trip, but I've stayed home today as the weather made travelling the shorter journey to Aberdeen seem like insanity this afternoon.

3 - The Air Con Mk1's and lack of locomotive variety. Yes, I can see this point being shot down by those who will insist that "At least it's steam". However, there's a lot of photographers who want to best attempt a recreation of the heyday of steam and not so much a contemporary scene. Air brakes, WCRC branding etc, can all be overlooked. But Aircon Mk1's are very obvious, and don't lend themselves to that 1960's scene that double headed Black 5's on the Highland Mainline usually bring.

There's still plenty of people chasing at the lineside! There was easily 20 cars stuck at the level crossing at Strathcarron, who were attached to the enthusiast community. However, that's certainly less than I've experienced in previous years and quite a majority of the regular names have not joined the effort this year. In fact, more comments of "I've never done 'X' line before and will we ever see it again?".