THE KENTISH BELLE ARMISTICE DAY (Tangmere now via Bromley)

Omit Ric and Dic. Pull twice on vehicles with two brake cylinders. Kick as appropiate. Having seen some of the crumbling old tat still using vacuum brakes on main line railtours don't kick too hard...

 

They need a 'Wooosh' smiley over here......

 

Spot on! Nice shot for you too. I was at Sturry. I seem to remember the sun only fully came out right at the end of the day, just as Tangy left Canterbury!

We were even luckier at Sturry. An emu, ( a very loooooooooong box LOL!), was in the station, but the driver waited to leave until we had got our shots. Damn good man. Would love to met him and shake him by the hand one day. We all gave him a very cheery acknowledegement as he left after Tangy had cleared.

Incidentally, there was a box on the back that day, for getting up the Harbour Branch. But when I am linesiding and not travelling I'm never bothered in the least about what's right at the back of the train. Well at least not now, because I have just got to the stage with my photography where I can manage to get a photo of what's at the front of the train before it's gone past me. And sometimes it's not even blurred, dark and out of focus.

Anyway. I've got some more Tangy shots to put here if the thread goes all heavy again! LOL!

 

Time to put this thread to bed IMHO. Next Tangy trip is on 24th from Poole to Bath/Bristol. Only Parkstone bank on the way out and Upton Whatsitsname on the way back to worry about - no pressure there then!

 

34067 has managed these before but who knows what the rail conditions will be like on the day?

 

Very fair point, and I hope that the freight operator are also considering their response to the conditions. But this thread's about Tangmere and, unfortunately, my point remains valid. For whatever reason, an obvious mitigation against a forseeable risk was not taken with the consequences we have seen.

This isn't a dig at Tangmere, let alone the crew. The class has a reputation for being light-footed; that is why I consider the risk to have been high & why I criticise the lack of mitigation.

 

Does Tangmere have the old reverser or the new reverser setup in the cab? Just a thought.....

 

Can you have the later type reverser on a Bulleid Pacific with the original 'inside an oil-bath' valve gear gubbins on it? Didn't think you could but it isn't my field of expertise.

 

I thought the same. I would like to see how a rebuilt W/C/BoB manages it in these conditions. Hopefully 34046 will do a stint or 2 around the Kent and Sussex mainline sometime next year. So maybe we will have a comparison to how they differ.

 

It has the old reverser.

 

When 34081 was being restored from Barry condition, one of our engineers looked at various ideas to make the reverser more reliable - not that it's given much trouble in traffic as it happens - and one proposed solution did involve a screw reverser of sorts. Can't recall off the top of my head why we never fitted the screw reverse but there must have been a very good reason not to have done. I'll ask our technical guys.

 

The freight operator reviews this kind of thing all the time and, as I've already said, some flows run with reduced load when NR forecast "red" or "black" days on their adhesion forecast. NR had not made such a forecast for that route on that day. However the incident in question was due to exceptional railhead conditions, the loco using up all of its sand and still being subject to exceptional railhead conditions with no more sand left. Therefore the incident was not one that was the fault of the operator, but was down to railhead adhesion being exceptionally poor. I note that the operator provided an assisiting loco to move the train and kept it on the train for the rest of the journey

 

The freights get diverted away from the Maidstone East line when possible in Autumn/Winter!

Thinking out loud, I assume that's cheaper than controlling the lineside vegetation?

Anyway, I'll be shortly walking up to see the wide open spaces where one of the real trouble spots on the Maidstone East line used to be. Gonna be a shame. I got to be on first name terms with each of those overhanging trees. We used to send Christmas Cards to each other we got to know each other so well.

 

Credit where credit is due. Ths lower end of that spot has been cleared. Some time ago by the look of it.

So, it CAN be done!

Not only that. It's opened up a nice curving photo spot for Tangy and other locos with numbers 5 digits long and starting with a 3 storming up Borough Green Bank.

And the curve is such that it reminds me of a Bavarian Serving Wench.

Oh no. Sorry, mind on a couple of other things. Blame Frank for that, he mentioned them a few minutes ago elsewhere! LOL.

What I meant say is that the curve is such that any box on the back of the train shouldn't be in shot!

NR have become my new best friends.

Well, not quite, unless they can slip into a dirndl.

OK. OK. Rambling as usual and going off topic, so I'll end with another Tangy photo.



PS. Note the Leader class at the back, not leading today though.

 

That's a nice view Bryan. Could you tell me where it is?

Thanks,

Dave

 

Top (Folkestone East) end of Folkestone Harbour branch?

 

Spot on. Taken from up on top of the Cliffs of course.

 

Many thanks,

Dave

 

Like it!

 

Excellent shot Bryan, did you take any others showing site of station and shed?