Steam Failures 2010

Torbay Express have given everyone from Sunday a discount off another tour, including The Bristolian if preferred. Valid till end of 2011. The vouchers have already arrived. Smart work!

 

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So excuse my interest, whats involved in an FTR exam that makes cost so prohibitive ?

If a crew is passed for steam it's passed for steam, I wasnt aware steam crews were paid significantly more than a diesel crew so the costs are the same ?

I think the splitting point is the cost of hiring a steam locomotive to sit on standby, but if some form of scratch my back I scratch yours could work for this, or be easier for locomotive owners with more than 1 in working condition... i know several railtours in the 1980's where the expected locomotive was substituted same day by another from the fleet... NWCE was one example where 34027 failed and was replaced by 35028, by it running LE to Holyhead to pick up the return working... some passengers didnt even notice the swap.

Fort William seem to manage as well under this, so it can be done.


on another subject, maybe there should be the option of an escrow company, which passengers can opt to buy insurance for steam ? and gain a refund / discount back where the trip isnt as advertised ?

 

How close to the tour is the FTR done? Can it be brought forwards by a day or so? That being the case an alternative loco may be sourced if available.

Do the loco owners work closely enough with each other to enable reserve loco's, if available, to be used. At the end of the day all of the owners have a business need for steam tours to propsper. If, as others have said, Joe Public feels let down by a box when they paid for steam, the prime source of income dries up. On another post, people on the SSE did not care what was on the front as long as it was steam. That implies that if an steam alternative was not available a postponement was preferable.

Can and should tour opertators take out insurance to cover their costs in the event of a postponement?

Yes, I know it's all well and good for us to comment from the comfort of our computers, but everyone on here has a desire for mainline steam to propsper.

 

A Fitness to Run is only valid until the fire is dropped. If the fire is kept in, them the loco should remain attended by the support crew. Diesel FTRs last up to 3 days, so I presume that this would be the case for steam loco as long as it was kept in steam throughout. However, you are probably talking of over £500 in coal and water before any cost of the manpower attending them.

The situation is arguably different for trains that run several days per week where having a standby loco may be practical but it is unlikely that a second loco could be kept in steam. A second loco is kept at Fort William but I don't think it is in steam when on standby. The hire fee for this (having another steaming cycle would be seen as affecting boiler life) would also be something counting against it.

Steven