Fire Risk

I'm certain that's true. But that doesn't necessarily mean that because "something must be done", and this is "something", that this "something" will achieve a positive result

 

Coming back closer to the debate about steam and fire risk - Surely after the many catastrophic house fires being a headline story on the TV news, it is a huge PR own-goal for any steam railway (unless copiously being rained on) to continue to operate steam in the current emergency?

The IOWSR seems to have only reluctantly agreed to abandon steam, in the very short term only, following a major fire in West Wight occupying most of the island’s fire engines (see their recent comments on that thread). And now they have - incomprehensibly - circulated a timetable of upcoming summer events saying that steam will run every day.

Seems a poor decision to me, unless perhaps the IOW has been getting a lot of rain that we have not had on the mainland.

Economics is one thing, but pissing off all the locals - plus many concerned holiday visitors - is another.

 

Interesting the message on the mobile tonight at 7.00pm from HM notification centre about the current emergency relating to wild fires and what not to do (barbeques etc), nearly frightened the life out of me! (never heard the warning siren from the phone before).
I think any form of steam/fire powered transport should be highly suspicious until we have had a good coating of rain, in light of this message.

 

Having had the same message, I wondered about that. Technically I've got a station-limits only, carefully-controlled steam footplate turn on Sunday, but I'm half wondering if even that is likely to get pulled between now and then.

Tom

 

As with Petra's post too, I would be amazed if any railway in the very considerable fire risk area even thinks about running steam.

It has to stay stopped and not re-start until it is certain the fire risk has gone.

And I would suggest that those of us who would have gone to a heritage line only for steam and now don't make the visit, consider making a donation, gift aided if applicable.

Bryan

 

From a PR point of view and also due to a fire risk (even if perceived as a low risk) I personally think it should be cancelled Tom.

Bryan

 

Might I suggest some steam fans try the diesels? Who knows, you might enjoy it!

Must admit, if hadn't already got commitments this weekend I would have been tempted by the 2 Westerns out on the SVR this weekend.

Railways should try and make the best of a bad situation, advertise and theme diesels if they can, perhaps advertise some rare haulage, try something out of the ordinary. Obviously, the majority of Joe public won't care, but tempting some enthusiasts might make the difference between profit and not.
I've already seen some YouTube films advertising the SVR's 'Impromptu Diesel Gala'.

Either way, Bryan is correct, the need to support the heritage railways is stronger than ever now.

 

I'm a steam guy, and I went to the Bluebell last weekend to see the Thumper.

I thnk it shows that if you're fortunate enough to have some "special " traction you can make lemonade from the lemons.

GCR are fortunate to have Tulyar there.

 

I have such notifications disabled in my settings, so I never got it. I got fed up of all the test ones they kept sending a while back. No good having an emergency system if it gets over-used!

 

Eh? I've only ever had one before: the test one in September 2025. My phone keeps a history of them and there are but two entries - then, and today.

 

This was the first time the system has been used on a broad basis and quite right too. Apparently issued at the request of the emergency services.

It might drum some sense into those who seem completely oblivious to the danger, like the idiots letting off fireworks in our nearby town yesterday evening as the hill in the other town burned..

 

Re: the fireworks - I read elsewhere of someone setting off fireworks to commemorate what would have been a child's 21st birthday, had said child not died.

Yet the Daily Mail has kicked off about it (surprise surprise) and Alex Burghardt (who he?) said such warnings should only be used in life or death situations.

Unfortunately, Britain is now home to a lot of stupid, ignorant and self-centred idiots (and recently I learned of fires in Normandy caused by locals burning rubbish rather than putting it in bins or asking for it to be collected).

 

Nethan, this is an emergency sitiuation that we are in. Firefighters in particular are putting their lives at risk. I think it was a very well sent message.

Bryan

 

I’m not convinced it needed that. The urgency of the type of message sent last night was disproportionate to the actions required, while the wording was poor and inconsistent with what the PM said (home bbq, anyone?). That’s before we get to the interface between language politics and urgency in Wales, where if it had been a genuinely urgent message, the 5 minute delay before the English language version went out could have been fatal.

To use the hackneyed phrase, I hope lessons will be learned

 

I think the morons that go around lighting fires where they shouldn't aren't going to be prevented from doing it by an alert on their phone on a Friday night, any more than they take any notice of what they see in the papers or on the telly news. That's assuming that they are the kind that watches the news in the first place. They are more likely to avoid it all together because news and current affairs are 'boring'.

'It won't happen to them' and 'I can't understand it. We were only having a few beers and a bit of fun in the sun'.

 

Quite. As illustrated by Libby Purves finding some wild campers on Orford Ness who’d had a bonfire, within sight and smell of the fire on Dunwich Heath - where some of the affected area can’t be visited by staff for months because of risk of the ground still being combustible

 

Some of them are more likely to take things like this as a prompt to go out to set fire to a gorse bush, just for fun, so they could have a laugh when the blue lights turn up. 'Getting one over on 'Them'.'

 

Looking at the other fire risk thread a number of other lines seem to be adopting the station limits idea.

 

My wife got the message (I have a dumb phone) but did not see it until around 22:30 as there was no alarm when hers came through.

 

Here in North Wales, on the narrow gauge, opinion seems to be divided. At one end of Porthmadog the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway have firmly said "No steam today". At the other end of town a full service seems to be running with coal-fired locos...