Flying Scotsman

Ah well there we go then. It was at the first weekend so why would it need to take part in the actually 200 years to the day, makes total sense it being stuffed being the NRM

 

I hate to say this, but stuffing and mounting 60103 would solve a lot of trespass issues...

 

It goes further than that. They spent £4.5m on the most extensive overhaul it’s ever had and wasted two years of the boiler certificate with it doing virtually nothing. For the general public it’s the most well known locomotive in the land and they’ve seen nothing of it.

 

It is pointless complaining about the NRM from a railway preservation enthusiast's perspective. The NRM is no longer managed by railway people but by museum curators. The strategic direction is quite clear from the Science Museum Group policy documents which can easily be found on-line, and some of which are referenced, with links provided, on NP.

 

You are right and that’s the problem. Having said would exempt Anthony Coulls from your remark, he’s the sort of person the NRM needs.

 

A better way would be to change the '3' to a '6' and 'Scotsman' to 'Fox'!

 

Correct, 60007 took its place for the 2nd week.
The pair of 43's had brought one of the DPS deltics back to Barrow Hill, no 9 i think.
They then continued onto Darlington, picked up FS, and dropped it off at York.
Maybe the cost effectiveness of getting FS back to York, utilising the 43's was behind the move.
As i said, taking FS back to Shildon made more sense, but if nobody seems willing to operate her standalone on the mainline, needs must....

 

Its already been done but the tender is wrong

 

Oh dear yes, Joe Public will clock that.

 

I think all that &30567 was disagreeing with was your "beginning" to think, not with what you were and are thinking.

 

+1

 

Indeed, for all that money it should be spending a lot (most) of it's time out and about on the main line earning. Mr Riley and his men put a lot of time and effort into getting the thing fit and healthy for main line work.

 

The people awarding the tender would have done so on their own criteria but without the required appreciation of the wider operating environment.
Bed made with no recourse until its due for renewal unless Northern steam make enough of a mess to trigger a termination clause...
( Cue Gerry Rafferty)

 

I think there's an argument to say that more people see the locomotive close up in action if it tours preserved lines than they do when its used on the main line.

 

Thing is who is going to manage it then, if you look at the Facebook post I linked to which started this phase of the debate (post #9006) unless someone else is posting in Mr Riley's name it would appear that bridges between NRM and them are beyond burnt.

 

Quite possibly. We should also remember that 60103 will be running at the NYMR in a few weeks' time. Perhaps time is needed to get her ready for that? I don't know for certain, I'm just saying that there may well be a reasonable explanation and we shouldn't jump to conclusions. I'm fed up of this conspiracy-theorist mentality in which malice or incompetence is attributed to literally anything the NRM does.

As for the NRM's staff--many of whom I have worked, or corresponded, with in a professional capacity--they are a mix of enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts, which is exactly what the museum needs. They all bring different knowledge, skills and perspectives. They are not unmindful of the enthusiast community, but they also know that, given that the museum is largely funded by the taxpayer, they have to create a museum which will also appeal to non-enthusiast audiences. Unfortunately, that sometimes forces difficult compromises.

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All that accepted, it does still seem perverse to have brought FS to the Museum and parked it where no-one could see it.

 

I suppose it comes down to which is the most lucrative...............visiting preserved lines or main line touring. For a £4million + refit it needs to be out making money........big money. Visiting preserved railways is no place for a fully fit A3.
I've no idea what went on with the tendering process but (and I'm guessing), after the time and effort Mr Riley put into it I would imaging he's not best pleased .

 

It's not even close. On a typical heritage line you could probably sell 750 - 1000 tickets per day to ride behind the loco, depending on the length of your line and other factors. (Say three round trips of a typical line with a train capacity of 350 seats). Over the course of a 5 - 7 day visit then you are going to be in the region of 4,000 - 7,000 people getting the opportunity to ride behind the loco, and many more seeing it up close at stations and in the yard, potentially with add-ons like footplate visits, "walk through the tender corridor" etc. Not to mention the numbers of volunteers who can legitimately claim "I've driven / fired / been guard on a service hauled by Flying Scotsman".

On the mainline - what, 300 per day, and very little opportunity for those kinds of add-ons? It could take a year of mainline operation to achieve the same level of public exposure that a heritage line could deliver in a week.

Tom

 

Up close, I agree. But there's a different exposure, which is the crowds coming out to see Flying Scotsman come through on a main line trip. That brings its own problems, but is itself a powerful testimony to the influence of FS.