Flying Scotsman

Please correct me if I’m wrong as I’ve never been on it but I don’t believe it ever had a steam brake. The loco used to be vac braked.

 

When we drove it all those years ago, at Tyseley, we were on VAC only, as you say, it placed Left hand at eye level, so i think you are right.
In loco only, is it VAC or air???

 

Braking systems not being my forte, but does the above set of three pipes (red, yellow, traditional through brake pipe) indicate she is dual-braked, or air braked only?

 

The pipes show she can work with either vac-braked or air-braked trains; but don’t in themselves indicate how the loco is braked when running light.

Tom

 

I’m not commenting on the incident but I’m sure when it was sold to Marchington it was converted to air only and the vacuum ejector was disconnected which meant it couldn’t work on heritage lines. It was changed by the NRM to reinstate the ejector but I’m sure the loco is still air braked

 

Just to avoid confusion, here's the driver's view of the brake controls. top are the vacuum ejector controls, below that the black straight air handle for the loco brakes, and below that the auto brake control. You will see that the loco is air braked, and very effective. The previous vacuum brakes on the loco in the 1990s were something else, sometimes heart-in-mouth time if running light!

 

We drove her in the Pete Waterman era, and from @Sim picture, the whole vacuum system we used is gone, replaced by the straight air brake, we never had stock, so the air brake was never in situ.

 

Its been reported that the engine possibly might be being recalled back to York, I don't know if its to assess the damage, but its been reported the NRM want a full examination of the engine, but York no longer has the facilities to carry out the work, Is this just sloppy reporting by the media, ? I would have thought that having the engine examined where it is, would make most sence, or at bury, or if there's a better workshop at say Carnforth ?

 

Any chance of a source Martin?

 

It was from the Yorkshire post, i believe, but here's the strange thing, I can't find the exact same article that i came across, so it might have been someone mis informed thinking that the NRM want it examined at york, and they have removed it, but the headline was " flying scotsman to be recalled to York, "

 

According to the Yorkshire Post article I’ve read it was planned for the loco to return to York today, in any case. I’ve not seen the headline you’ve quoted, though.

 

That's not correct Steve.It is planned to return to York in the middle next week. That may of course change if issues are found during the locos examination today, but if all is ok it has three days of charter train work out of Edinburgh this coming weekend

Peter

 

I was only quoting the Yorkshire Post article following on from Martin's earlier post. The article, from 29th September, said:- "The historic locomotive is due to return to its roots in Doncaster on Monday (Oct 2) as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations. It is not yet known whether this event will be affected by the crash. The Flying Scotsman is also set to return to Doncaster on November 11 and 12." The rest was about the incident and was generally the same as published elsewhere with quotes from the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service.
A subsequent YP report, published at 10.17 today says:- "The Flying Scotsman is due to have a full mechanical inspection after a low speed crash..... The world-famous steam train was scheduled to take tourists on trips at the weekend, which had to be postponed......The crash was described as a “particularly difficult situation” by heritage line The Strathspey Railway. A statement said the inspection was “the earliest the owners can achieve”......This autumn, the Flying Scotsman will return to its roots in Doncaster and visitors will get the opportunity to see it up close."
I haven't found an article along the lines quoted by Martin but that's not to say it didn't exist.

 

A full mechanical inspection... well it would be having an FTR anyway ?

 

I see a video has now popped up purportedly taken from the verandah of the coach.

One would image her needing a very close cold inspection before doing anything else, wasn't there boiler stay damage after the B1 clattered the buffers at Norwich??

 

Two very different things.

 

But wasn't that front end damage because the loco was going forward hence since 60103 was reversing the tender would be the most likely to be damaged as it absorbed the impact of the collision.

 

Yes i would think so, ideally with a pit, but would a journalist ?

 

It'll be interesting to see what damage the Royal Scotsman coach sustained. With the sort of impact that was apparent in the video from the balcony, bent frames looked to be a distinct possibility. With earlier generations of coach underframes I'd expect to see a degree of "hogging" as a result, but perhaps a steel body provides enough stiffening to prevent that. It would be interesting to see a side-on photo of the coach post-impact to see if there are any creases in the bodywork.

 

Pictures have now appeared on FB showing the balconied car and another one heading south on road trailers, and it has to be said that there are no really obvious signs of body damage. An interior shot of the kitchen, however, shows that to be seriously wrecked. If there had ben kitchen staff working it there at the time with cookers operating, pans of boiling water etc. on the stoves, there would have been some significant injuries, I suspect.