70013 & 30777 ECML lineside fires 02/09/11.

My last two journeys from Lime Street to London......21/8, a 90 minute delay caused by a fatality between Nuneaton and Rugby and 30/8, a 2 hour delay caused by a freight train fire. This unfortunate incident will just be another in a long list for N.R. I do hope the can do approach to problems so typical of main line steam rescues the ACE tomorrow.

 

EC were fairly vocal about the steam causing problems yesterday, yet were pretty quiet about the failure of one of their trains at Peterborough in the afternoon which caused chaos as well. A friend said the letters that were being handed out at King's Cross yesterday were blaming the steam for the delays, but it was EC's train failure that prevented stuff heading north from Peterborough.

 

Wouldn't have anything to do with Elaine Holt being in charge at ECT would it? Not exactly steam friendly when she was at FGW.

 

Ban signals? Bring back the Bobby?

 

I thought that was Alison Forster. She was widely unpopular even amongst her own employees!

 

Madame Lipstick was MD of FCC.

 

Like the "Madame Lipstick.description............."

 

Have to agree entirely with that.........spent many hours on the banks of Harbury cutting on the Birmingham/Paddington line......small fires broke out on occasions but soon fizzled out.

 

So do EC routinely letter drop post all significant delay incidents whatever the cause? (which would be a good PR thing to do)

or is the letter issue unusual suggesting that there might now be an EC anti steam campaign?

 

Seems I'm getting my railway chicks confused.

 

Returning to the compensation discussion. Was talking yesterday to a chap who is involved in main line steam operation, he does FTR exams. He said that the bill goes to the TOC who then pass it to the loco owner, who then claims on their insurance. It would be nice if we could get a definitive statement from a TOC or a loco owner to clear this one up.

 

Not having seen anything else about the cause, other than the burnt through mesh today, it amazed me how quick the usual armchair critics were to point the finger of blame at the Brit straightaway.

Let's hope this has no detrimental effects on the future of main line steam, ie: a reduction on the number of trips next year or a ban in dry weather or totally :shocked: :nono: Blaming locos and their crews willy nilly is not something we should be doing in Preservation.

Dave B

 

That's the way it works!

 

From another site,there were 5690 minutes of delays attributed to the fires.That could add up to a formidable amount of money.
Colin.

 

What about the poor crews? They always seem to overlooked.........not very conveniant for them either

 

Put another way, nearly 95 hours or 4 days.

 

Indeed, must have been a frustrating day to be an East Coast driver.

 

I'm also very sorry about your messed up weekend plans.

As someone who was an active enthusiast in steam days, (ie up to 1968), I don't remember lineside fires being that much of a problem.

But of course they happened. Quite often they were in the same place, (on an up grade), and used to keep the vegetation from growing much. So less material to burn next time.

It has been said that a lot of the leaf fall problems on the third rail system in the South, (and possibly elsewhere), increased after steam ended because the vegetation by the side of the steeper grades no longer had the "control" system of being burned down by a steam loco from time to time. So the bushes etc grew bigger and bigger until they could overhang the track and drop leaves all over the line. Which got mushed up by trains running over them and cause the Autumn leaf fall problems because of lack of adhesion.

And I think in the 1960s trains would keep running during most instances of lineside fires. Far less complicated lineside signalling etc equipment to damage, far less worry about H&S, and an attitude to keep the trains running regardless of problems unless it was obvious safety was an issue.

Just read the entire thread, and see I have covered some points already made.

 

Good post Mike.