MHR steam galas March & Sept 2009

Hmmm, so what about charters and other things like the stoneblower contracts?.

Regards
Chris

 

I think that perhaps where the misunderstanding has crept in regarding allowed speed on the line is in the fact that Frank Twine arranges visits to the line by tampers, blowers etc off of the 'real railway' for training and commissioning of new bits of kit. They get a free, or at least cheap, stretch of line to hone their skills on, we get a track which is pretty much up to main line standards. When the line was first worked over in this way I was in fact told that it was then good for 70mph running. Of course we are only allowed to run at 25mph in the normal course of things. This includes charters etc. The whole safety case would have to be reviewed with upgrades to infrastructure etc to run as anything other than a light railway - hence the 25mph.

 

That's my understanding, too, Chessie. The quality of the trackwork is up to mainline standards. The saftey case says 25 mph, so that's the maximum speed our trains can run at.

All of this is wandering away from the subject of the thread, which is this year's MHR Galas.

Going back to Braunton's appearance in September - since her owners don't want to send her anywhere by road, the implication is that she will arrive by rail. I wonder if this could be part of her mainline certification process?

 

Thanks Chessie,I stand corrected.
Regards
Chris

 

The other possible source of confusion is that, back in the days when he-who-must-not-be-named was still at the MHR, there was a report in the Steam Beano that the railway was considering applying to have its line speed raised to 40mph because it was felt that 25mph was too slow a speed for Bulleids to work comfortably at. Presumably that came to nothing.

 

I have removed a couple of posts due to personal insults, can we get back on topic please?

Thanks, Neil.

 

No, it never did lead anywhere. As mentioned above, once you go beyond "light railway" parameters, everything gets much more complicated and expensive. Maybe someone from the GCR would like to comment about the extra precautions they have to take when running anything above 25 mph (e.g. Tornado's 60 mph tests last year)? Never say "never", but it's really not worth it for the foreseeable future.

 

There's a separate discussion about 25+mph running here:
http://railways.national-preservation.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=19390

Richard

 

Hi Tim any news about the time table from the steam gala. You stated the other month that it would only be a few weeks before you could possibly have a time table ready.

Thanks

 

Have patience Lee, it will be ready when it is ready. ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,)
All will be ACE on the day. \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/

Regards
Chris

 

I think its being aimed at 30 min departures from both ends ......but if what ive seen is right , then can we please start earlier and run later !!!!!

 

We are working on the timetable at the moment with operations. We are looking to resolve a number of known issues, including longer days. Hope to get something out soon, and yes, we will release a working timetable in advance.

Thanks

Tim Beere
Marketing Manager
The Mid Hants Railway 'Watercress Line'

 

Thanks Tim for coming back so prompt

 

I'm happy to be corrected as I don’t think I’m understanding this all....

As far as I personally was aware (and I know that I could be wrong) The signalling at Alton is being upgraded so that we can use Alton as a signalled station and not a stop and proceed at caution type of signalling station ...In the sense of you need to get the signal into Alton station, you need signals to run around and you need the starter clear to proceed back onto the Alton / Four Marks section.

I didn’t think that any part of the MHR sections ( again , talking personally and not completely sure) was being upgraded to be able to maybe one day run at 40MPH.

Also 73129, I would have assumed that as well as you’re using more steam and effectively more steam = more water = more cold water to heat etc...Although like you, I may be wrong.[/quote:2t549xnc]


I think you will find guys with the 25mph limit it is because of the length of the line and H&S having a field day - Yet again!

But yet all preserved lines are restricted to 25mph!

As for Coal and Water consumed - It doesn't matter what speed as long as you have the fire right before going off shed and know when to fire??? The loco at that speed and being that the Firebox is up to temperature will produce the same if not better consumption?

 

If you wanna have a 1/4 mile section of line cleared for 60mph you can , its not the length thats the problem , its the signal distances and track mantinace etc.

 

Aghhh, agreed, but if you want to have a loco run through from Alton to Alresford you could with all signals cleared, with a token run line...... (Just a thought) Probably a crazy one at that!!!

 

eh?

 

The majority of Preservation railways are run under the legal banner of light railways. The maximum speed for a light railway, under the relevant act of Parliament, is 25 mph.

 

I think you will find guys with the 25mph limit it is because of the length of the line and H&S having a field day - Yet again!

But yet all preserved lines are restricted to 25mph!

As for Coal and Water consumed - It doesn't matter what speed as long as you have the fire right before going off shed and know when to fire??? The loco at that speed and being that the Firebox is up to temperature will produce the same if not better consumption?[/quote:95qxhx63]

How do you work that out? If a loco is been worked in full second valve with about 45% cut off going up the bank about 45mph compared to a loco in first valve with 45% cut off going at 25mph, you're going to be using more water going at 45mph as you'll have more steam been used and you will need more heat to maintain the higher output of steam in the steam chest and also to keep sufficient pressure to keep the water going into the boiler at a rate which you will have enough when you reach the summit, that would generally entail needing more coal. I dont know how you can say that a harder worked loco would use the same amount as a loco not doing the same amount, its kind of like saying you need to fire the same amount light engine as to a 7 coach train....

 

Would this explain the lack of steam i sometimes have?