New Tour Company? Great British Railway

Braunton priming very badly today................and no reaction from the crew or owners rep?...very unusual?.....

 

She was a very good locomotive, now obviously on the slippery slope!.

 

Can you give the basis of information you have to confirm those statements?

 

It's priming badly - self evident.
Lack of reaction - drain cocks are shut.

 

I would also like to know how the armchair expert knows that if the loco was priming (I am not agreeing it is) that the crew/owners rep are not reacting in anyway??

Having met/worked with some of the guys from Locomotive services Ltd I would say that comment is a load of tosh!

 

Though not an engineman I have travelled behind and on many steam locos for over 50 years and this one sounds like its priming with the characteristic roar. Big Al is correct as the normal but not only cause is an overfilled boiler. Best remedies are open drain cocks and then full regulator. Otherwise water can be carried over into the cylinders and cause serious damage. Who were the crew?

Don

 

Surely "priming" means that waters is being carried over into the cylinders, so would it not be safer to shut the regulator?

 

One 'armchair expert' posts over on 'The Works' tonight that he is cringing after viewing the above clip. By armchair I refer to the fact that as he was typing he most likely sat in one. By expert I refer to the fact that he goes by the name of Ian Riley.

 

I assume that those who were so quick to criticise the calls of it priming would, as per the rest of us, bow to the knowledge of that particular 'armchair expert' on such matters?

 

The lack of a gap between the exhaust and the chimney, the roar from the exhaust, the leaking glands from the cylinders. Similar to that video of 35028 leaving Oxford the other year, except with only one safety valve lifting rather than all three.

 

Probably best if an engineman comments on this. Wayne Thompson used to contribute.

 

I wasn't on this part of the trip (just the morning as driver to Kenny O, then fireman to Canterbury). She did prime twice in the morning in the Tonbridge area. Being the fireman I was quite aware of my water levels and was a little surprised when it happened the first time even more so the second.
The water level in the boiler at both times was up, but not overly so (watching it like a hawk after the first time).
But we were on top of the situation straight away. I heard the change in the exhaust as did Bob Hart, who was the inspector, Paul was a second or so behind us before he re-acted, but re-act he did.
Yes drain cocks should be opened and they were. As for the regulator I have learnt from my old drivers who I ask lots of advise from, ei those who were driving steam for a living in the 50's & 60's. Some swear by regulator full open, some half open, some shut! Take your pick, but non had any problem which ever way they did it.
There is also another very important thing that has to be done which I was dealing with. Both injectors need to be on and quickly. Particularly if the water is coming out the safety valves as the boiler will empty rapidly, it is syphoned out the boiler. As we had no further problems I did not think to much more of it until reading it here on the forum.
Now to the bit in question. Paul was still the driver for the trip back to London, so would have been aware she had been priming earlier. Colin Kerswil had taken over as inspector so I would have expected him to have noticed.
Now, I have not spoken to any of them so I do not know what they think, but they might have been aware of what was happening. Or with the din going on they might not have noticed straight away but reacted shortly later.
A problem will occur if the crew are not aware of the problem and shut the regulator before the drain cocks are opened. Then you have water in the cylinders with nowhere for it to go.
So I have now had time to think about it and it is possible that the boiler water was slightly 'foaming' causing us to pick up the water when it was high (not over full), usually you will have other indications with a boiler 'foaming' but we didn't. which makes me think it was only slightly.
One of the first things you do when you think a loco is priming is look at the water level, it's an automatic reaction.
If the water level is high there is a fair chance it's priming, if it isn't you take a few seconds to think what the change in sound could be before deciding to err on the side of caution and the treat it as a water carry over. This is what might have been going on at the time of the clip, with the crew re-acting to a 'priming situation' shortly afterwards.