'Tornado' saves the day!

the issue is not on what should or should not be built, what was shown to be an issue is the fragmented system that is britains railways, freight locos that cant be called upon to rescue multiple units, when the conditions effect them, because of different systems used by different operators look at the situation in the south, some stock is ex BR and has the ability to couple up with simular stock and locos of the same era, modern emus though dont, whilst you might be able to couple up ,you cant connect braking ststems with out an adaptor vehicle, so if your emu fleet gets in trouble you have no way of getting anything to help its this that needs addressing, a common coupling and braking connection that is network compatible so, if say a southeastern unit cant take power because of ice on the third rail, you can at least get a loco from what ever freight operator is in your area and has an engine availible , to assist, having a fleet of thunderbird locos does not make sence because they would not pay for themselves unless they were used as general purpose go anywhere haul anything

 

I disagree that new designs are irrelevant. If we want to see steam continuing on the main line in future, and I don't mean just next year, but when we're all dead and gone, then we'll likely need more new engines. particularly ones that are ultra-reliable and capable of integrating better into the network. So loco's like the 5AT may well represent the future. Personally I don't think the 5AT is quite radical enough - I'd go for poppet valve gear too to reduce the amount of oiling points for instance. I'd certainly contribute to such a beast, if the work for it was there and the business case stands up. Same goes for any future new builds from the Tornado team - let's make use of all suitable "new" steam technology - ideally within a classic outline, but I'm not averse to a few deviations if it makes for a more reliable/powerful loco.

 

How did we stray so far from Tornado assisting Southeastern Trains during the wintry conditions last week?

Regards,

Dan

 

Cos it's Nat Pres and we can..:bounce:

I see your point though Dan. If posters would like to start a new thread about practicalities of steam running normal services on the modern network I would be happy to move a few posts into the new thread.

Neil.

 

Hey it's N-Y-E - it'll get a whole lot sillier before the night's out. :~)

 

But then this thread would be just one post long!!!!

You must admit though that the straying off 'the straight and narrow' has made this one of the more interesting threads of the last few weeks.
And despite the differences of opinion no one has thrown their toys out of the pram.

 

Fair point! Keep Calm and Carry On!

Regards,

Dan