Swanage Railway General Discussion

Manston failed and now is okay however the last service of the day is still cancelled! Guessing this is crew shortages rather than related to the issue with the loco??

 

One of Manston's injector steam valves (the one in the injector body) jammed and needed replacement that was achieved in around an hour; to keep the train running D6515 did a round trip.
Before it was realised the fix was to be so quick, it was decided to cancel the last train so the only 33 passed driver on site didn't drive all 6 trips (he had already prepared Manston and driven the 10:00 from Swanage). Once the loco was running again the 14:00 ex-Swanage was taken by the rostered afternoon crew.
Hope that explains why it ended up like this.

 

I don't think the ORR would welcome having a single manned cab on the loco in push mode. That said, I would rate the SR compressed air system pretty good. The regulator has a fail-safe arrangement. What else is needed?
Pat

 

All very logical and although I saw the 10:00 and the late running 12:40 from the house I never even thought of an issue even when I noticed the headcode blinds on the 33 were different to yesterday.
Seeing the notice at the station "1640 cancelled due to a mechanical problem with our steam locomotive" as I passed to go to the Coop, I did think maybe I should pop down tomorrow and ask for this week's lottery numbers if the railway was now in to "predictions"
I did notice just after Manston departed around 15:30 a Spitfire turned low over the park and headed off down the line towards Harmans Cross, very apt I thought.

 

No different there to a mechanical system though? I know heritage railways have run GW auto-trains in push mode - they could always mandate having a cleaner on board to make sure it's not single manned?

 

there were 2 Spitfires going in the area all day, they came from Compton Abbas Airfield, near Shaftesbury, and were offering flights for a fee all day. I had hoped to get a photo of a Spitfire and Manston at Corfe Castle Station but it was not to be.

 

Years ago when a 14xx and auto coach visited the Bluebell, it was crewed with a driver and fireman on the footplate; and a second driver in the auto coach driving compartment. So has a bigger impact on volunteer resources, but meant the cab didn't have anyone lone working. I didn't note how other lines did it where I have had trips on an auto train, but I suspect they probably used the same set up.

We do from time to time run a "poor man's motor train" by propelling the observation carriage. The set up is to have a driver and fireman in the cab of the loco and a guard at the front of the observation car when propelling, who has access to a brake and a horn. The token travels on the loco. I think when working like that, the normal working arrangement is that the driver on the loco will control the train including stopping; the guard at the front being there just to stop in an emergency.

Tom

 

Every time I have seen an auto coach being worked anywhere it has used the two drivers and a fireman arrangement. The linkages were notorious for not really working once there was a bit of play in them. It’s also pretty hard to judge how much regulator you’re giving it when the loco is 60+ feet away.

 

From what I understand from first hand experience from former Bournemouth men, the system did not work. The firemen drove the loco and the driver controlled the brake. it was teamwork not technology.

 

In 2007, there was a case of an auto-train crashing through level crossing gates when the crew lost control in slippery rail conditions.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/547c902bed915d4c0d000193/R142008_080702_Lydney.pdf

The auto-coach was being propelled by the 14xx engine, with only an inexperienced fireman on the footplate. The RAIB report saw this as a contributing factor, but there were other factors involved.

 

Some upcoming events advertised in the booking hall yesterday.

 

Went yesterday.

The sun was out, good to see Swanage Town Councils electric van has reversing alarms after a neighbour was knocked over by a reversing van.

The roster said the Mogul was running but the 11.20 was delayed leaving as Manston shunted it round the shed.

What a collection of carriages! Road out to Norden in the Devon Belle & back in an Ironclad.

Good to see with departure approaching the TTI 'queuebusting' in the booking office

 

An Ironclad? I didn't think there were any currently operational?

The VCT only lists this one at Swanage: http://www.cs.rhrp.org.uk/se/CarriageInfo.asp?Ref=308

Tom

 

Must have been one of the Maunsel TO's

 

My bad, it was one of the Maunsell TO's I didnt realise thatthey are not Ironclads

 

The BSK push pull driving carriage 6699 is still in storage and needs rebuilding, along with the 30053 mechanism from scratch.
Here is a picture from the SR Trust website from 1962 of a different BSK. (seems 6699 had a photoshoot in about 1996 before it went into storage, but there seems to be no photos published?)
https://www.swanagerailwaytrust.org/southern-railway-coaches

Will be a long time till ready. It could be modified so passengers could see forward, but will then no longer be authentic.
However at least the Swanage railway now has 2 Maunsell carriages that can be used behind 30053 to represent a typical 1950s Southern branch line train. However think 30053, when it gets back into service, can actually run 5 carriages on the line and earn some revenue in the normal timetable?

 

Yes, 30053 is able to manage 5 coaches on the Swanage Railway - just checked through my photos and have plenty of evidence to this effect.

 

I'm sure you could do a "poor man's motor train" without going to the complexity of reinstating all the equipment. (Which if nothing else, means sourcing a Westinghouse pump, a whole compressed system on the loco and carriages, etc etc). If the person in the driving coach has access to a brake application valve and a warning device (e.g. compressed air horn), that should be all you need. The driver and fireman stay on the loco and in one direction propel the stock, with the person in the driving cab responsible for sounding a horn as required and stopping when running into stations.

Tom

 

U photocharter today. Light seemed poor all day and although it did not look too wet at HX (where the was a column of loco exhaust) when we drove back from our Covid boosters at Wareham, if it did rain at any time similar to when we were at Wareham hospital they must have all got very wet indeed.

 

I watched the proceedings a few times during the day via Railcam. If anywhere is likely to get sunshine it will always be the Swanage area, unfortunately not yesterday.

I have to feel sorry for the participants - a very disappointing day.

Another chance of success today with the 2nd charter, this time with T3 563<BJ>