Steam speed records including City of Truro and Mallard

Indeed the fact that still have COT is the best part of all, as has already been mentioned. Infact this thread was one of the best and carmest I've ever read about COTs dash. It me it matters not wether it did top a 100 or not, what matters is we still have it.

 

I think the "did she or didn't she" is part of her overall character. Certainly, though a dyed in the wool LNER man, through and through, seeing COT at the NRM in August for the first time, changed my view on the engine entirely. Up close and personal, the workmanship - the grace, elegance of the design, and the outside cranks give it an aura of - well - I don't rightly know.

What I do know, is that the more I look back on the photographs I took then, the more the engine endears itself to me. You can understand the percieved hype about this engine when you see it in the flesh. It really is a thing of beauty.

As for Papyrus - I seem to recall Alan Pegler himself stated that his original intention was to buy Papyrus over Scotsman (in his autobiography?). I could be making that up mind, it's a very vague memory! Did it not have on its centre splashers a plaque in the same style as Mallard's?

 

Its dispicable that it wasn't put aside for the national collection. their argumnent IIRC was they already had an ex LNER 8P pacific. Still, thanks to Mr Peglar we at least have 1 A3.

 

[But I will settle this argument once and for all.

I'm gonna book the first available time machine seat when that device gets built. And no prizes for guessing what date and location I will head for on my first flight. LOL![/QUOTE]

When you've been to May 1904 please come back to February 2011 so we don't have to wait for the answer.

 

Now the Dukedog has been retubed and is in fine fettle, can't we settle the capabilities of inside-cylindered outside-framed GWR 4-4-0s once and for all by doing a midnight-special run down Freshfield Bank? 102.3mph in reverse and with a nice drop onto the A275 if you can't pull up in time - should be quite entertaining!

(Ducks and runs for cover!)

Tom

 

I'd rather not send out an electronic copy while "Western Celebration" is still on sale in the shops. If you don't want to pay full price for the magazine just for one article (though the rest of it is pretty good) or there's none on sale where you are you might want to keep an eye on ebay - there's sure to be one there. I can give you a summary of what is covered. It starts of with some of the misconceptions that have arisen over the years - The speed at the summit, the evidence of the second timer, Rous-Marten's reliability, whether it was an intentional attempt and whether Rous-Marten was responsible for the speed being a secret. It then looks at the claim that the speed was in the low 90s (that first appeared in 1934). One fundamental question is whether 100mph was physically impossible. So there is an examination of the power needed - looking at all the factors (weights, rolling resistance etc) and giving the likely min/max power that was needed for 100mph. It then looks at the power available, the steam rate and the cyl efficiency. This centres on a simulation of the cyl performance using Perform software. Worth noting that the geometry of the engine is pretty good, reasonable lap and lead and port area and a large (for the size of engine) blastpipe. There is a graph of cylinder power against speed. Finally looks at the evidence from the day and comes to a conclusion.

 

Apologies, I didn't realize it was still for sale. I'll grab a copy when I'm next train mag shopping, and thanks for the precis
Cheers
Jim

 

It happened! Got my flight in a time machine. But there are very strict rules. So I can't tell you what date in the future I went back from, (but original style Bulleid MN 35031 is putting up some fantastic performances at present!). And I have had to clear with the Guiding Authority what I can say about the events that day with City of Truro.

Right. That run. My time machine dropped me into the same compartment as RM as speed went past the 80 mph mark. Getting out of the machine made me fall, and I lurched into RM, who shouted "Strewth there's a bloo.y Yeti turned up", and he dropped all his notes and watches on the floor with the shock.

I calmed him down by saying I spoke English and knew about train timing. He was gob smacked at that! So he was scrabbling around on the floor getting his watches etc back, and I was both trying to get stopwatch times myself and shout down to him when we passed a milepost so he could try and get stopwatch times.

We reached a maximum just as he got back into his seat and I shouted out "milepost", so he could press his stop watch, but think it could have been a gradient post! Sorry, but it was all very confusing in there. RM thought he'd been knocked to the ground by a massive hairy Yeti, and was desperately trying to get some details down whilst he was wondering what Yetis ate. And trying to work out if I looked hungry.

Anyway RM pressed his watch and took a time. Just as that point my time was up, so I lurched back to the time machine that I knocked over, making the coach lurch violently from side to side. That was why Driver Clements braked sharply, he thought the speed was too much for the rolling stock.

The time machine was drifting over the train for a while and I just picked up a conversation between the driver and RM before I was whisked back to Waterloo in time for 35031's next down ACE run, (70 minute schedule to Salisbury!).

"Look, I've told you several times already. If I say I had to brake because you were having an encounter of a Yeti kind in your compartment my driving days will be over. I'll say there were some pw gangers around that day and I put safety first."

"OK, but my notes are in right blo.dy mess. I'll try and cobble something together that looks good. Make a claim for a record or something. Keep the press away from the story about flying Yetis or my credibility has gone too."

 

A quick question Bryan. How did you convince the good Dr. Who to lend you the only time machine in existence just so you could go train spotting ?
Any way at least we now know the truth and so this thread should now come to an end.

 

Tsk, tsk. You should know the Time Lords can all travel through time as can various Starfleet ships, the latter via various methods such wormholes and other hitherto unknown quirks of the universe. Thus Bryan need not have had contact with the good Doctor at all.

 

We see what we want/expect to see........ :gossip:

 

No! I never said what the actual top speed was, because of all the confusion going on between RM and the rampant Yeti. The top speed wasn't actually recorded................ Maybe RM guessed right. Or maybe he didn't! LOL

You don't think I'm going to come back here and spoil the greatest and longest steam loco debate in history do you!

Especially as this one has been undertaken, (as already mentioned), in a very welcome gentlemanly style.

Anyway, I've got my long scarf, and you can all guess where my young woman assistant comes from, and what dress she is wearing..................

 

This thread seems to be all about fantasy. QED re CoT?

 

Or, in my case, BSW. LOL!

 

BSW on the footplate? Mmmmm............

Ian

 

No, she was in the time machine with me. She had to stay in there while I was rampaging in RMs compartment. Strewth, it was bad enough for him to try and time CoT with a rampant Yeti in the compartment with him. Add a BSW as well and he'd have recorded about 115 mph!

By the way, some mysterious fault developed on the return "flight" which slowed the machine's progress quite a lot.......................

 

hopefully she is wearing nothing but bear (or should that be bare) skin

 

Just as a quick aside, anyone know where Truro is now, and when her boiler certificate runs out? I have been told 2014, but I thought she came back into service earlier than 2004.....

 

Ok, answered half the question. It is 2014. Now, the second question.... anyone know where she is at the minute????

 

Just to put things into perspective. 100.9 mph was achieved in Germany on the Königlich Preußische Militär-Eisenbahn (Royal Prussian Military Railway?) with a Siemens & Halske electric loco in 1901. On the 26th October 1903 a Siemens & Halske EMU managed 126.1 mph and on the 28th October 1903 130mph had been achieved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_speed_record_for_railed_vehicles
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studiengesellschaft_für_Elektrische_Schnellbahnen