Strathspey Railway

That would make some more sense, though there are still some issues I’d have with one or two points.

 

I wonder whether the lack of intervention by the owner’s rep is part of the reason that the operating contract for Flying Scotsman has changed parties recently.

 

I think that you are making 2+2=5 here. Firstly he did intervene but too late. Secondly, unlike the driver and fireman, he is not, as far as I know, involved with the Strathspey and would not necessarily be aware of the normal operating procedures nor the drivers sighting limitations at this point.

It seems certain that the Museum, like the RAIB, did not hold Rileys responsible for the mishap and were happy to let them operate until the end of the contract three months later. In all probability the change of party came about because the Museum felt that the new operator offered a better deal - at least on paper. We are all awaiting the outcome of this. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating as the saying goes.

Peter

 

With a steam loco, especially a large one, I prefer not to stop at all and will slow down well before the stock and crawl onto it. It is by far the easiest and safest way. If I have to stop it will be sixty or more feet away. I've seen locos stopped thirty feet away and still give the stock a good whack when buffering up. The 'six foot' rule never existed in steam days for good reason.

 

I agree. Get the speed down to a point where if you don’t brake again you can’t damage the train and roll on in with no steam on. Much safer. This stop and then move on is liable to cause more accidents than it prevents.

 

As I said above it depends on the circumstances. It is not too easy to role up hill. Then the train that you are going on to still has a tail light attached so you have to stop and wait the for the guard to call you on. And on the network the modern rule book says that you stop...and then proceed. With a heritage operation there are plenty of experts watching every move you make and they will soon make an issue of it if you don't stop. At one location I stopped a steam move 30 foot short to check the buckeyes then called it back for a very controlled attachment. The next thing we know the platform supervisor is jumping up and down claiming that we had had an uncontrolled collision with the train. Just the sort of hassle you can do without.

Peter

 

As a layman, I'm starting to be reminded of the old adage that rules are for the guidance of the wise, and the slavish obedience of fools. In particular, I'm left curious as to whether the rulebook has always been this way, or has been amended to take into account the more controlled power delivery of diesel and electric trains.

 

Totally separate. The change of contract came about due to the expiry of the previous fixed term contract with Riley's.

 

As I tried to hint yesterday, we have had this debate before on this same thread earlier!

The rule to stop short then proceed (and it is a rule, not a recommendation, guidance etc) is in current RSSB rule book, I think in module TW5. Whilst I don't know when it was added, it was not in the 1960s BR rules which formed the nucleus of most of not all heritage rule books, and is not, therefore, applicable on any heritage line I am aware of.

I suspect the addition came in due to changing circumstances on the modern railway over time, for example the move to much greater use of multiple units means scenarios where both portions could have passengers onboard. Also the move towards central couplers which have less tolerance for being poorly aligned, especially once electrical connections are added in. We could also add that running round loco hauled stock is pretty much unheard of nowadays, so it is less familiar and practiced.

The upshot is that we should be careful of reading into it that heritage lines drivers are somehow remiss in not following this practice.

 

60 years of English Electric Type 3 performance captured in a single sentence…

Simon

 

Newer stuff isn't that easy to control, especially not on the power side. Within the last 30 years or so, trains have gone from having separate power and brake controllers to combined PBCs. They still operated on notches though - 4 steps for braking, 4 for power, all controlling contactors and relays. Nowadays however, there's no notches - the train's computers work out how much power or braking to apply. That's fine when out running, but trying to couple up or inch forward is difficult.

Previously you could easily stop short, check both couplers are open, then get the train to move forward slowly by putting the controller briefly into notch one. Now, you have to guess how much to move the controller and whether the train will agree with you. Sometimes it'll move, sometimes it won't!

Braking, luckily, is a lot more responsive.

 

When I did my guard training at Ruislip Lido many years ago, the rule that was emphasised above all else during shunting manoeuvres was that “driver and guard must always come to a clear understanding about what is to be done and how”. I’m not going to pretend that this is some kind of “catch-all” but it seems to me to be a principle that every heritage railway ought to follow.

 

Obviously my comments apply to a situation where there isn’t a tail lamp and your not going up hill, though when coupling up on the 1 in 60 off the end of Medstead I find the best option is set the loco with just enough of a breath of steam for it to creep forwards very slowly and bang the brake in fraction before the buffers kiss. If I had to make a stop to demonstrate I had the loco under control (which with a steam engine in such circumstances is not imho sensible) then I would like others have said stop 60+ft away so as to be able to recreate the situation described. I am aware the “big railway” has a different rule. All I am saying is that this is not (again imho) a sensible one to import into heritage line operations.

 

As you say. Simples - “The driver and guard must always come to a clear understanding about what is to be done and how”. Thats spot on and works every time. Mike.

 

Is there any info on which steam loco's likely to be out from Wednesday this week, we've another chance to visit...?

 

46464 is scheduled to be out from Wednesday onwards.

 

Excellent thankyou!

 

Anyone able to confirm what likely motive power is for the remainder of the season please ?

 

At the moment 46464 is running and barring any unforeseen circumstances will be until the end of October. 5025 is scheduled to work the Christmas trains from the end of November onwards.

 

Thanks now considering a silly 800 mile round trip north .