Swanage Railway General Discussion

Of course the M7 did haul the TPO at the GCR Gala in 2012. A rather dark shot of it blasting under the road bridge at Quorn just before a bag drop. No way to treat an old lady really!

 

It looks good they must of had the blower switched on fullbut I bet it’s rods need fixing when it got back. How fast did it go? I have seen them on videos there and they must be breaking the rules

 

I’m sure GCR would be very interested in your accusation of speeding.

 

I'm sure they'd be very uninterested!

 

I believe (I am sure others know for sure ) that the GCR rule book covers TPO drops at more than 25 mph ( I think 35 mph? to make the equipment function) as long as the foot crossing gates are locked at the end of the platform before the train departs Loughborough. So no speeding. Remember the line is approved for 60 mph test running on non public days.

 

What was the M7 limited to when it went mainline?

 

Wow it’s good. So much steam it’s blowing off out the sides!

 

It’s good if they can go faster it makes it excitng I bet this is the smallest engine anyone has ever done it with. I’d do it with kilmersdon whiston or other smaller ones but I don’t think they’d ever go faster enough And drop the bags. I will keep it to my model railway for that

 

I am ignoring a certain contributor to this forum, but evidently others are responding instead of ignoring posts that make little sense and/or are irrelevant to the thread subject. I don't think he's exactly a troll, but both the symptoms and the remedy are similar.

 

From memory 45mph. There is some other video on line of her stately progress up the mainline after the Woking centenary gala.



Cheers, Neil

 

Cheers Neil, thanks mate.

 

Oddly enough I was leafing through an old copy of Modern Railways from June 1964 and there is a reference to 31874 being in a line of condemned locos at St Philips Marsh believed to be 'on its way to a scrap dealer in Neath'.

 

Yes thanks for showing this, I was on the train behind 30053. The progress through Weybridge was "stately " partly because it was restarting from a signal stop. Once Clan Line had passed and the M7 was put on the main line behind it, it was a little more lively especially between Earlsfield and Clapham Junction.
Is there any video footage of the M7 hauling the carriages from both trains back into the carriage sidings at Clapham subsequently? I am pleased I had I managed to get there to see it, replaying scenes from the 1940s and 1950s for me. Sadly the film in my camera that evening could not cope with the conditions.

 

Memories, not least of the much missed CIGs and BEPs arcing furiously over the pointwork 3rd rail gaps.

 

151224165_3622017471180124_5486523856754124106_o by Josh Voce posted Feb 20, 2021 at 5:50 PM

Going back to more Swanage Railway related items, this comes from the Swanage Railway's Facebook Page:

We are delighted to announce the success of our ‘Save Our Service Appeal’, set up to assist the Swanage Railway's survival as we all continue to struggle through the Coronavirus pandemic.

Thanks to our generous supporters our appeal surpassed the target and raised a total of £363,206.83!

Our SOS appeal was launched in March 2020 in response to the developing crisis caused by the spread of Coronavirus and the inevitable loss of income due to a curtailed operating season. Money raised from this appeal has given the railway the vital lifeline we needed to get through this winter, enabling us to undertake essential care and maintenance work which would not have been possible without your donations. We will soon be ready to operate trains, when restrictions permit, and be in a position to try and make our recovery.
2020 was more challenging than we could have ever imagined and we are incredibly grateful for the hard work and determination of our staff, volunteers and supporters.

Although we have reached our SOS appeal target, the future for our railway remains uncertain as we await Government guidance on the lifting of lockdown restrictions. Our tenacious staff and volunteers are planning for every eventuality, however, it is clear that the ongoing effects of Coronavirus will be felt by Swanage Railway for some time to come.

In normal years February half term marked the start of our operating season. With the potential for the railway to be closed for the foreseeable future we are already on the back foot, therefore any continued support you can give to our SOS appeal is gratefully received.
You can donate by visiting www.saveourservice.co.uk for PayPal and www.swanagerailwaytrust.org/giving for details about bank transfers and cheques along with Gift Aid that can further boost your donation by 25%.

Please could I take this opportunity to personally thank all of those on this forum that have contributed to the SOS appeal. There is still a lot of work to do, but this is a good step in the right direction. Please consider supporting us as much as you possibly can going forward.

Thank you.

 

With the problems with future supplies of coal, has anyone heard of a plan to convert a steam engine from coal to hydrogen. The hydrogen could be used in the boiler to convert the water into steam (I am not sure how) and the tender modified to contain a hydrogen tank surrounded with water. It would get rid of the smuts and still be a steam engine and more important GREEN. The engine would remain cleaner and the fireman would have a much easier job. Am I dreaming or could it be a possibility? Probably safety will rule this out.

 

If speaking of gas firing, from the perspectives of both safety and sustainability, biogases, produced as a byproduct of decomposition, seems likely a more fruitful furrow than 'straight hydrogen', economic large scale clean production of which is currently the subject of very much investigation, with barely a week going by right now when someone isn't claiming to have cracked the problem (my money's on a wave powered system being trialled in Scotland's Northern Isles, but so much is currently happening, it's hard to keep up with, never mind predict a winner!).

I suspect torrified biofuel pellets will prove far more suitable for "our needs". Rather than me bleating on about the process (which I've done elsewhere), here's a link to a group who actually know what they're doing:

https://csrail.org/

 

My thoughts came about after reading this which seems to indicate that hydrogen is the fuel of the future. https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Hydrogen-Insights-2021-Report.pdf The main point is that Hydrogen is clean and returns to water so unlike others fuels does not pollute when used. My apologises if we are getting away from Swanage Railway, but every railway must be prepared for the future.

 

I've just searched out where similar discussion was being had. It's on 'General Railway Chat/Coal, What's the future' (moribund for the past 2yrs). Delighted the subject of alternatives is alive again, but you're dead right, we can be pretty sure the Swanage folks would like us to take the subject off their thread! Hope to see discussions on t'other thread ....

Edit: I've just put a short post on the 'Coal, what's the future' thread to resurrect it.

 

Getting back to Swanage, here is the view from the Bridge