The Royal Wessex 5th Sept 2015

So, Geekfindergeneral's mates who work somewhere in NR told GFG that the driver reported the incident to Signallers at 1308.
And Steve1015's mates who work somewhere in NR have told him that 'control' we're not informed until 1800.

Someone's mates aren't communicating well with somebody else's mates!

 

Yes it is also stated in the control log that WCR control weren't made aware by the crew either though. Sounds like a lot of non communications all round!

 

No
Steve1015 did not get told...Steve1015 read

In fact both versions are correct

 

Ah - such a lot of social media, cell phone cameras, red tape, health and safety, and litigiousness has flowed under the bridge since then.

 

Different world back then wasn't it!

 

It's just as important to recognise that if you lie lamely on your back with legs waggling in the air waiting for someone to tickle your tummy nothing will change. You may denigrate it as wailing but sometimes a point needs to be made if we are to persist on the mainline. I, personally, would rather the preservation railway movement in general had a unified single voice but until that happens give me an alternative.
I'm not sure your point about the comparison of charters with regular services holds too much water as most are scheduled services or run on reserved schedules activated as required.
As for hiding behind the £5000 penalty limit even NR appreciate that the volume of charter traffic does not make the "standard" penalties practical.
Rather than bashing NR you could see it as trying to point them in a better direction. Some people express things better than others of course. For example, I can't see any reason to employ contractors to do a job without making sure they are responsible for maintaining existing clearances. If they fail that requirement they should be responsible for any claims both from NR for any extra work and TOCs etc.
We all have to work together and the sooner existing problems are sorted out the better we can resolve the future difficulties. Leave things as they are and we start on the back foot. I appreciate we are in a difficult situation at the moment with everything being closely scrutinised so timing may not be the best.
I respect your different opinion but suggest there is more than one way of looking at any problem.
These are my personal opinions and I speak for no-one else nor any group or society that I happen to be a member of.
Perhaps any reply should be made privately as I doubt anyone else will care to see our differences aired further.
Chris Taylor

 

You raise some interesting points.

Is the "delay minutes" question really that relevant? Whilst any steam failure/delay is one too many,surely delays caused by steam charters must be absolutely infinitesimal compared with the almost weekly failures of the Riviera/Caledonian sleepers,all too frequent dewirements on the ECML and so on.

You say that charters are "resource heavy" but can you expand on that? The schedules are littered with various non-charter STP workings of many types on multiple routes,presumably each needs to be timed. The majority of steam charters run to the same schedule time and again (some of the Belmond ones are even in the WTT),and other than water stops,what is so difficult about timing a steam charter compared with say a freight train. The forthcoming ORR "prescribed" load limits for different steam locomotives will presumably simplify matters. If any charters were "resource heavy" I would have thought it would be the non-steam Branch Line Soc and UKR "rare tracks" type where permissions have to be obtained and points clipped etc,however these seem to be running more frequently than before.

Whereas I am sure some in NR regard charters as a pain,the fact remains that the taxpayer,i.e you and I pay them an eye-watering subsidy to run an "open access" network. That is a fact and there is no need for me or anyone else to "wail" about it. Can you imagine the media reaction if tomorrows steam hauled royal train on the new Borders Line had been turned down by NR as being "too difficult"?

 

.....or because they had forgotten to gauge the route. <BJ>