2015:- The best year in preservation so far for........

Thanks for that Simon, last I heard it was still "end of this year," oh, and for the last two years at least, when she's been hoiked out of the shed for display during galas, there's always the advertised possibility she might be in light steam

Carrying on from Tom's point on passenger numbers, I found a great selection of passenger numbers for all the major railways here for 2009/10. adding all the ones listed up, not including the NRM or Shildon or the additional ones added later, it comes to 3,461,000 if I've managed to add up properly (which is by no means a given). Tom's suggested figures for passenger numbers come out at 112,400. So that's about 30 times more passengers on heritage railways, a little over what Tom predicted at 25/1.

I might do some more complex figures including price and and mileage later which should be interesting, in the meantime I have a Latin translation to type into Google translate, so will come back to this later.

 

Can someone tell me, has 35006 not got her tubes in yet? If so surely the clock is ticking on her 10 year ticket?

I cannot believe they have put the loco together without undertaking the relevant pressure testing that normally occurs with the boiler off the chassis?

 

The latest update on 35006 went up on the GWSR website in October

http://www.gwsr.com/enthusiasts/dep...on-project/progress-reports/2014/october.aspx

Still got loads of work to do, I did think it was strange they fitted the smoke deflectors when they hadnt done the outside steam pipes yet but turns out it for was becasue they had no where to store the smoke deflectors.

 

Is my understanding correct that the boiler ticket is effectively running from the first hydraulic test ?.

 

I too have been wondering about the boiler ticket and when the lock started ticking. It came back from Chatham steam ages ago IIRC, not sure when the boiler was fitted in its frames, perhaps look back in the archive of update reports? It does seem to have gone very slowly compared to, say, 4270 which was probably in a similar or worse condition, it arrived on th railway where the first serious work started I think about ten years ago, the boiler was only returned during my time at the railway, so maybe a couple of years. On the other hand 4270 does have a different owner...

 

my my some of us are a little touchy tonight.

Whilst not wishing to stop people rounding on a mod for a kicking, the fact still stands... Mainline steam IS more at risk than a heritage railway... rather than beating me up for calling a spade a firing shovel.. prove me wrong.. is Mainline steam as secure as your average preserved railway ?

I seem to think the heritage railway will be around as long as the last skeleton has skin on it, but mainline steam is subject to all kinds of vagaries and for many engines that has just been too much and a bit short on expectation in the last few years.

Despite what a few silver spooned preserved railways may think, mainline steam gets the public interest and media spotlight more than your day in day out local line does... Last time the Gwili was on TV anyone ? Mainline steam is an ambassador for the movement that literally reaches parts your average preserved line does not.. we lose that we lose more than you might think.... every time something rolls through York, Leeds, Manchester, London in rush hour etc.. people see and think... many many more people than who roll through Bury, Pickering, Loughborough's rush hours every day and think nothing of seeing it.

 

Not sure but I dont think so I think Railmotor 93's boiler was tested then 'put in aspic' until the rest of it was ready? Happy for someone to shoot me down in flames though.

 

I agree with most of what you've said but I think the 'social clubs on wheels' wasn't the best phrase to use. Rather like a certain Jewller regarding their product as 'crap'.

 

I don't think that was the point, maybe mainline steam is at risk more than most heritage railways in the short to medium term, who knows.T he fact that you seemed to be belittling heritage railways as opposed to mainline steam saying heritage railways were not as important as mainline steam and we should all be crapping ourselves over your beloved mainline steam, HRs aren't as important was probably what upset people.

I'll come back to the figures I said I'd do later, they will be interesting, but regarding the risk posing heritage railways vs mainline steam, how many people are involved in running mainline steam I wonder at it's current level, and how many involved in preserved railways? I'd suggest that mainline steam runs on a lot fewer people than heritage railways, so when numbers of people willing to give their time go down as everyone has predicted then heritage railways who probably have a far larger number of employees/volunteers, would probably be more at risk than mainline steam which doesn't employ as many. I'll now toddle off to find some figures to back up my (outrageous?) claims...

 

I can't find any figures for mainline steam, possibly because it is so niche and small...

Anyway, this is copied and pasted from the HRA website, which lists route mileage, stations, and labour:

There are 108 Operating Railways, Tramways, Rail Cableways and 60 Steam Centres
operating throughout the UK and Ireland who are HRA members

Their total route mileage is 536 miles with 411 stations.
(This is greater than the London Underground system
and exceeds the distance between London and Glasgow.)

New railways & planned extensions to existing
railways could increase this total to 560 miles.

During 2011, heritage railways, tramways and museums carried 7.1 million passengers.

Heritage railways earned around £92 million, 53% of this being from trains journeys, 16% from catering,
11% from shops and the remaining 20% mainly from workshops and charter trains.

Heritage railways directly employ 2,200 people and also benefit from the work of 18,529 volunteers.

- See more at: http://www.heritagerailways.com/visits_about.php#sthash.DpuelJhJ.dpuf

 

On another note, 35006's boiler was steamed in 2009 for the insurers, report here. Don't know if it's steamed in frames yet though - is that when the clock starts ticking?

 

Really? For starters, you assume that the majority of heritage railway passengers regularly use the national network and hence even see mainline steam - I am not sure that is a safe assumption. People are aware of mainline steam, but many are also aware of their local heritage railway, or one near where they regularly holiday, or one that has been on the TV etc. For the general public, the two parts of our industry probably compliment each other and this should be the case for enthusiasts too. those who like speed and performance are more attracted to mainline, those whose interest is beyond the locomotive into the whole ambiance of railways in the past would be more inclined towards heritage lines. Sadly, some seem to have a problem with this.

What gets me "touchy, and I suspect what gets others on here too, is the "holier than thou" attitude of some followers of mainline steam - their activity is so much more important, not just than "social clubs on wheels" but also scheduled services, freight etc. I suspect that the extreme examples of this attitude poses as much of an immediate threat to mainline steam as heritage railways do! (And I presume they must be seen as a threat or else whey seek to belittle them and run them down?)

Steven

 

I think they are aiming to break the record for the cheapest ever second overhaul - I reckon by time it needs a "ten yearly" it will have run about a week in service

Tom (hat, coat, large spanner ...)

 

Usually when the hydraulic exam happens but its up to the competent person and the examiner as to when the next out of frames ("10 yearly") is required.

 

Im sure thats when the clock starts ticking, usually why its the last thing to be done, as I've said before Im happy to be told otherwise, this is just as I understand it.

 

From a purely personal standpoint, it wouldn't bother me if main line steam ended tomorrow. There's precious little difference between riding behind a steam loco or a diesel for the passengers, the coaching stock is uniformly uninspiring Mk 1/2s and I don't really buy into the argument that seeing a steam train on the main line causes people to think that they really ought to have a trip on their local heritage railway. The vast majority of filming (which can cause viewers to visit locations - e.g The Railway Children, Heartbeat) takes place on heritage lines because they can adapt to the needs of film crews. It's nice to go and watch a steam special pass by, but on the whole it tends to be a lot of hanging around for a couple of minutes actual viewing in a day. If one isn't obsessed with taking photos it's barely worth the effort. Far better to visit one's local heritage railway, see several trains, ride in some nice vintage coaches, have a look at the engine sheds, workshops etc.

 

For goodness sake, I do find some of the posts on here quite depressing to be honest. Us enthusiasts do seem to enjoy shooting ourselves in the foot and talking our (thriving incidentally) industry down. There are a few foreign posters on here who regularly point out just how lucky we all are, nearly 50 years after the end of steam, to have the amount of steam both on heritage and mainline railways we enjoy. People have been predicting the end of steam both on the mainline and heritage railways, since the 1950's when the Talyllyn was saved. Each year we here predictions that steam will be driven off the mainline - remember the advertised 'last trips over Shap' before the Pendolinos arrive? But we have overcome TPWS, OTMR and even 125mph timetabling.. (Incidentally I enjoy steam on both mainline & heritage lines - I don't feel the need to choose - but a pacific steam loco at 70mph plus is doing what it was designed to do and simply can't happen on a heritage line).

Where there is a will, there is way. Where there is change we can adapt. Many of our pioneer preservationists did exactly the same and look where we are now. If they had the pessimistic attitude of some of the posters on here we would have achieved nothing in the last 40 years. Please can we remember the title of this thread??!! 2015 the best year...

 

Bit unfair as that's not by choice where the mainline is concerned, 4965 at the head of a few Colletts thundering about would be high up the list otherwise, and outside a few of the "big boys", most lines have barely anything but MK1/2 stock, I'm sure the MHR would kill for a rake of Bulleids.

 

Your not wrong there, we should hopefully have 3 bulleid coaches operational by 2017 which would give us a good start to building a rake.

 

Here bloody here.