LE movements, ECS and test runs 2025

Don't DBC use their own staff who are subject to the TandCs of their company? Don't confuse DBC with other set ups who have their own way of doing things.

 

....not to drive steam locomotives though......

 

And what's wrong with using crew members on zero hour contracts?

 

Are not DBC steam traction inspectors retired former drivers and therefore will be part-time?

If you think that there is nothing wrong with that then fine. I don't have a view one way or the other except to observe that it's probably a good idea for a train driver to have regular work and a pretty frequent exposure to the routes they drive on.

 

That's my understanding as well. So operating a steam loco, even if it's LE as Flying Scotsman, works best when it's over a route that the driver already has detailed knowledge of.

These factors sit behind the ever decreasing number of steam routes on the network.

 

Zero hours does not mean that crews do not get regular work, methinks you are once again casting aspertions.

 

Your interpretation Ralph, not mine.

I believe my comment about DBC traction inspectors to be true. If you know differently then please say.
Where have I said that zero hours drivers don't get regular work?
My wider point was that increasingly the steam routes available are now limited by the fact that drivers feel they need to travel them regularly to maintain route knowledge. Is that wrong in some way?

I don't like you suggesting I am 'casting aspersions' without you providing the supporting evidence.

 

Exactly so. This means that if they have the route knowledge already then should a steam charter be proposed over their regular diesel routes, provided they are also 'steam competent', they should feel comfortable doing it with steam. Similarly, because 10A crews regularly use the Shap and S&C routes, their route knowledge over that line should be second to none. Ditto for east to west and through York to Scarborough, for example. However, if you are a regular/zero hours steam driver who only does steam charters then your availability over the wider network would be more limited.

So my point is that if you have a full time day job driving diesels around the national network, even if it's within a defined territory, your knowledge comes in useful if on occasion you are asked to do the same with a steam loco. But with the upcoming GB trip into the depths of South Wales that will need a steam crew with recent route knowledge however you define 'recent'. If all you do are steam charters then I don't see how any newish territory can be recent for you.

And that brings me back to LE movements that provide valuable opportunities for refreshing lapsed route knowledge as well as shifting a loco from one location to another.

Apologies for this digression but it is a factor in explaining why virtually everything is now a 'repeat' itinerary.

 

Just spotted these on RailCam, leaving Crewe heading to Carnforth from Burton, spare parts?

 

A good spot, possibly for what you suggest or maybe even for future use as a generator car although doesn't WC have one lurking somewhere anyway?