West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Gwr green 150 charter only sold about 15 tickets since I got mine. Will it still run?

 

It is being run as a publicity exercise for the photos and the invited guests, so I am sure it will.

But there are lessons about not advertising something until the last moment.

Robin

 

Horrible weather but enjoyable day out so far.

 

Approaching Minehead

 

Seen that picture before somewhere.

http://www.wsra-railway-history.co.uk/the-future/

 

Bit of a mixed bag weather/light wise, saw the diesel turn at wiliton very quiet, not sure if that was because the hymek wasn't out and 33 was, but doesn't look good,the half turn to wiliton and less mileage doesn't make it too attractive,have to see what its like next Saturday.

GWR Modified Hall 4-6-0 6960 Raveningham Hall Departing Wiliton 18/06/16

GWR Modified Hall 4-6-0 6960 Raveningham Hall & S&D 7F 2-8-0 53809 Eastcombe Cutting 18/06/16

Class 33 D6575 Eastcombe Cutting 18/06/16

S&D 7Fs 2-8-0s 53808 & 53809 Water lane Bridge 18/06/16

S&D 7Fs 2-8-0s 53808 & 53809 Eastcombe 18/06/16

 

The Western is out next weekend so there will be more passengers about on both days. I'm there for the AGM on Saturday and indoctrinating my young relatives on Sunday and looking forward to the Western outbound on both days.

 

Exactly my thinking.

 

I think we are mate, .Years ago as i'm sure you know we just got on & ran our various railways , under the guidance of ex BR men as well as volunteers, everything was safe , we had a laugh, & went home happy. Now it seems everyone wants to stick thier ore in , with 'you cant do this & cant do that' Now I know we have to have rules & belive the railway cou'ldnt run without them, & I have always operated in a safe manner, but it seems that nowadays a bit of the fun has gone out of it.

 

Yes mate. No arguments there. And have you noticed, it's always "You can't" do something. And however the rules are written, there will always be someone who wants to "gold plate" them.

Someone upthread suggested maybe they should send HMRI a note, suggesting they visit us with GPS boxes.

I have news. They do that already. So do our own Inspectors.

The vindictiveness behind the suggestion is, frankly, sad.

 

The Titfield Thunderbolt reference to LRO was slightly 'off beat' ie 24.8mph average would probably have required intermittent speeds >30 mph. The (1896 ?) LRO specified 25mph max I think.

I have noted during this debate references to maintaining schedules (and therefore by implication: unrealistic schedules) and even regaining lost time (presumably then on realistic schedules).

I think a key requisite to achieving punctuality on most of the longer (distance wise) Heritage Railways is the time taken to reach line speed from station stops and similarly smart braking at the next stop. (I appreciate one does not want to pull a fire apart when starting from a Terminus either at the beginning of the day or after a prolonged lay over. Similarly there are PSRs in place at many station entrances).

The acceleration issue I appreciate is also a reason for adequate motive power eg the WSR prefers Class 4 (BR steam nomenclature) or above. However the number of times one can observe a start to stop time being significantly shorter, with a lower intermittent maximum speed compared with another journey and the same motive power and load, are legion.

Michael Rowe. (Inter alia Vice Chair Railway Performance Society)

 

It is a misconception that the Light Railways Act stipulated a speed of 25mph or, indeed, any speed. The speed limit was/is determined by the Board of Trade and successors in the particular Light Railway Order.

I very much agree that, in the case of the NYMR, the rate of braking and acceleration can be critical in timekeeping, especially when late. I always tell those I let drive that they must learn to 'snatch the seconds back.' Usually, the LRO requires a max speed of 10 mph in station limits. The approach environs at Pickering have station limits extending for over a mile and the difference between covering this at 8 mph and not 10 mph is 1.5 minutes. If your'e late to start with, you'll be 1½ minutes later by the time you get off this restriction.

 

Thank you, I should not have included the word "Act" after LRO. The 'Order' followed the (1896 ?) Act.

Michael Rowe

 

When I had a footplate trip on the WSR a few years back that's what the driver was doing .

 

Which reinforces the view that freight locos are in fact very suitable for heritage line use - plenty of power & generally smaller in the wheel making quick acceleration much easier as well as hill climbing at full line speed.

 

I think an oft-underestimated factor in reliable running is having a robust timetable, and having crews knowing where there is built-in recovery time and where there isn't. That seems a particular factor at galas on some railways, where there is often a tendency (egged on by enthusiasts?) to try to squeeze a quart into a pint pot - but with inevitable consequences, on single track railways with defined crossing points, when things start to go awry. The time allowance for out-of-the-ordinary shunting is a particular issue: without naming names, I can think of one example of a gala (a few years ago) on a big-name railway that involved a slightly complex manoeuvre at one terminus on each arrival of a particular engine; when I looked at the timetable, and the allowance that had been given, I knew straight away it couldn't work. Needless to say, things were about 90 minutes late by the end of the day. (That was a railway, incidentally, where in my experience the normal day-in, day-out running is pretty reliable).

I think it often goes unnoticed how much smooth operations is a team sport. For example, on our railway, when using small tank engines we inevitably need to come into the yard for coal at some point during the day, but there is no extra allowance beyond the normal run-round time. Fortunately that time is on the generous side, but it still requires that the Running Foreman is expecting you in; has someone lined up to operate the fork lift truck etc, so you can be in and out and back on the front of your train in time without delaying the next arrival. Likewise, I suspect on most railways, it is beneficial to arrange crossings so that the first train to arrive (and last to depart) is the one coming from the opposite end to the signal box - which minimises the amount of walking. If for any reason you cross in the wrong order, that will inevitably cause delays, but can be minimised if the loco crew are on the ball and send the fireman back to the box to collect the token.

Finally, my experience is that having a mainline connection definitely focuses the mind on right-time arrivals! Very often, you have passengers who need to catch a particular service on the mainline, and may only have a short time to make the change.

Tom

 

2857 Is sure footed compared to a Bullied. TV and SKP are ok once going but getting them going can be a pain. Both seem to get stuck with no piston taking steam. Once from giving the tip to actual movement was 4 minutes.

There are other time bandits. At Arley and Hampton Load the signal box is in the middle of most trains so the bobby cannot see the tail lamp and rule 147 applies. If the first train in is farthest from the box you have clear line of sight to the box so can use a hand signal. If you are second in the other train is blocking the view and you have to walk to a phone wait while the bobby gets back to his box and answers the phone. It all takes time especially if you have a long train and have to give the report complete but blocking as the rear of the train is still outside the fowling point

Mind you if the job was not so challenging it could become boring

 

All walks of life have changed in the same manner. Most job functions, including in the voluntary sector, are more heavily prescribed than ever before. This can makes many tasks frustrating as they often do not prescribe the best or even safest manner to perform a task. Even more importantly situations not envisaged by the rules cause an almost inevitable tangle. As an example just consider the despicable times the big railway has taken to recover passengers following an "incident".

I accept there has to be rules but have to agree that they are taking the fun out of everything.

 

Of course if your train's been held at the home signal because it's arrived second, then on a loco that can be a bit reluctant to start you might also have that "up to four minutes" time delay before you even get into the loop - particularly at Arley with a Down train on a damp day!

I know that if trains enter a loop in the "wrong" order it feels like the signalling takes a lot longer - but it's not actually as bad as you might think. I've posted on this thread before about the actual times crossing movements take in my own experience; it's a lot less than people think they do (and I refuse to believe crossings are particularly fast when I'm on duty because I'm hardly athletic!)

 

Three cylinders - poor starting!