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RTC: Edinburgh Flyer - 04/04/26

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by Enterprise, Mar 23, 2026.

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  1. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    Let me frame it in a different way then , at 10A she is a fleet engine and an outlier versus the mainly Stanier fleet plus a more standard Merchant Navy . I presume there is not a dedicated 34067 support crew so operation and maintenance is done as part of the fleet . In comparison with other main line engines who have dedicated support crews who over time have knowledge of the nuances of the engine and its design , does 34067 suffer for this . From memory and I may be wrong but when at Southall she was looked after by John Bunch (correct me if I'm wrong) so maybe got some more specialist tlc as a result

    ** Just to clarify none of the above is in any way a criticism of those involved at 10A who have done so much to bring us 46115, 35018,45699,44932,48151 etc
     
    Sidmouth, Apr 6, 2026 at 10:01 AM
    #61
    acorb, Alex Productions and green five like this.
  2. green five

    green five Resident of Nat Pres

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    34067 was a brilliant performer and reliable in the early part of her preservation Main Line career. We always looked forward to a trip behind her on the ML as the performance could be quite spectacular and regularly headed out to see her many outings in the South. She was always a treat to watch working the VSOE Pullman's over the steeply graded Surrey Hills route.
    Then one day the problems gradually started to creep in. We noticed that the trips with her were often suffering from reliability problems. I remember on one of the Sunny South specials to Weymouth we had a blistering run down to the South Coast, one of the best we had with ML steam. However, the return run with the BoB was terrible. The crew couldn't get her to perform as she wouldn't make steam for some reason. The worst trip we had with her was the infamous Steam Dreams excursion to Lincoln. The Class 37 diesel on the back failed first. 34067 failed a bit later on with a hot box. We got home from that one at 2.30am the following day!
    There were a few others where she didn't run well at all. After that we had a sense of dread about booking any trips with 34067.
    It is sad that this once great performer seems to be plagued with problems most of the time now.
    Hopefully she might get back to performances like this one from 2011 (below) which is still one of my favourite shots that I have taken of ML steam:




    Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk
     
    green five, Apr 6, 2026 at 7:17 PM
    #62
    silversteellady likes this.
  3. wcmlbls1846

    wcmlbls1846 Well-Known Member

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    wcmlbls1846, Apr 6, 2026 at 8:09 PM
    #63
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