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Spa Valley Railway - Latest News

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by matt41312, Jan 15, 2014.

  1. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    What isn't noted here but is apparent on the Facebook pages is the railway planned to operate Polar static so visitors could still experience the show if not the train ride whilst the brake issue was resolved . There are pictures of just how much water was in the pipes .

    "We had planned therefore to hold the train in the platform and run the event without actually moving the train for the remaining carriages that did not need to leave site in order to be fixed, however, following a large backlash from customers that lead to the verbal and physical abuse of our team we decided to give the railway the best chance to fix the carriages without only having the late night to work in we would cancel further trips on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th of December."

    From PNP Events
    We are deeply saddened to announce that we have been forced to suspend all train rides today 16th December and tomorrow 17th December. Everyone effected will receive an email shortly
    Unfortunately due to the freezing weather the entire train failed this morning and was unable to leave the platform. Our plan was to provide a static show where guests would still experience the show but the train would not move. However, after informing customers of this our staff have received an onslaught of both verbal and physical abuse and currently do not feel safe in their own work environment to continue running the event in this state.
    As staff safety and welfare is our number 1 priority at PNP Events, we have therefore chosen to cancel remaining experience today and tomorrow. We understand how many of you will be devastated with this news and understand not all of you would act in the way of many other customers however this is something we cannot and will not tolerate and we will not continue until our staff are happy and our experience can return to a level we are happy with.
    Customers will be emailed with the option to refund their tickets or transfer them to the same day in 2023 with a free Premium upgrade or if you are already premium customer your tickets will remain as Premium but you will only pay the standard price and be refunded the difference.
    Customers on trains from the 18th December onwards will be provided with a further update as quickly as possible. We are hoping with warmer weather around the corner it will help us to return the train to operation.
     
  2. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

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    All they need is the flat top to go malachite and we have perfection. :)
     
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  3. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Verbal abuse is bad enough but physical abuse is unforgivable. Hope the culprits are charged with assault.
     
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  4. 5944

    5944 Resident of Nat Pres

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  5. 5944

    5944 Resident of Nat Pres

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    That's exactly what they've posted on Facebook.
     
  6. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Are you going to sponsor the repaint Ian? ;):)
     
  7. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    I am sorry for both the Railway and their customers. Unfortunately they've trotted out the usual unthinking apology for "any inconvenience" rather than for actual disappointment.
     
  8. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    That's a rather harsh assessment of the statement. If they'd apologised for disappointment you'd complain that they hadn't apologised for inconvenience. I think their statement was perfectly sufficient to explain the situation
     
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  9. Spamcan81

    Spamcan81 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Give our lads some brushes and we’ll do it ourselves. :)
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2022
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  10. Ploughman

    Ploughman Part of the furniture

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    Don't you use Brushes then?
    Do they give a better finish?;):)
     
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  11. 5944

    5944 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Read the post from @Sidmouth.

    "From PNP Events
    We are deeply saddened to announce that we have been forced to suspend all train rides today 16th December and tomorrow 17th December."
     
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  12. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

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    Unless your some sort of sadist, who does like a Class 47? :);)
     
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  13. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

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    Is it normal for ejectors to leak steam into the brake pipe?

    I only ask as I'm genuinely intrigued by the water in the vacuum system issue, having seen many successful top and tail operations in winter.

    Sent from my moto g(8) power using Tapatalk
     
  14. Steve

    Steve Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    It’s not normal on ex BR locos. It is something often come across on industrial locos fitted with Penberthy injectors because they are usually mounted in the same orientation that catalogue illustrations show and there’s nothing to stop condensate finding it’s way into the vac pipe if the ejector is on and the non-return valve is open. Turn them upside down and the problem goes away. I had this problem on HE2387 until I changed its orientation to that shown in the photo. Not a neat arrangement of pipework but it did the job along with a drain on the exhaust.
    F70D5F97-8EFD-461C-A025-A8DA763CEE79.jpeg
    Is 2890 fitted with a Penberthy?
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2022
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  15. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    My concern is with the word "any", which implies that some customers may have suffered no inconvenience at all, let alone serious disappointment.
     
  16. alexl102

    alexl102 Member

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    I cannot for the life of me understand why only one active Spam Can is currently in Malachite. It’s a gorgeous livery, esp in the hybrid BR state.

    And in particular why SLL would own so many and not paint any of them that colour! Would look great at Swanage or the SpVR!
     
  17. alexl102

    alexl102 Member

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    I’m inclined to agree with this specific aspect - I have no criticism for the railway for the decisions they took - they wanted to try and put on something at least and should be commended. But that awful phrase - sorry for any disappointment - could have been far better worded.
     
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  18. richards

    richards Part of the furniture

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    How would you suggest they phrased it? Then we can have a moan at your version!
     
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  19. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    one of the downsides to the modern age is such information is rapidly shared within the public domain and everyone irrespective to closeness to the issue can have and share an opinion

    I would suggest that If Spa and PnP are happy and the customers, volunteers and actors are broadly happy then the messaging did exactly the job intended

    the rest of us can moan about language but someone somewhere will always find fault
     
  20. ady

    ady Well-Known Member

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    It would involve money... Both SLL's original LLPs have cut down tenders which wouldn't be right for Malachite anyway.
     
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