Mainline Steam Tours - Serious Fire Risk

Freezing cold sunny days for best visual effect, the part of the exhaust which is the steam vapour condenses best in the cold, on hot dry days you just see the smoke.

 

It depends if you want a 'Sunny South' sort of picture or a moody one that emphasises the steam more. To be honest, I've never been able to get a decent picture of a loco under cloud cover, as it ends up being too dark, although I don't like the artificial light of the flash, either.

 

It's pretty poor weather from a photographers point-of-view at the moment unless the engine is working very hard. The water vapour simply doesn't show up in the exhaust. It's great weather but I'd love it be a little cooler at the moment! Can't moan though.

 

I was being sarcastic & knew the answer, just wanted to prove a point.

 

Fair enough. And the rest of your post is perfectly valid, I just wouldn't want to spoil people's Easter or royal wedding street parties by wishing rain on them straight away. And definitely not for the sake of a few steam trains. Once that's out of the way though, no doubt we do need some rainy days!

I imagine the Watercress Line should have a good Thomas event over Easter with the warm sunshine

 

1976 started with a dry winter I think.

At present the reservoirs in the SE of England, (that is the four in Southern Water's area), are between 94 and 96% full. Some way above average for the time of year.

Now they don't supply much of Kent's water. But indicate that the acquifers we use in Kent could well be at a reasonable level after several years of good rains: we are told it takes that to top them up.

I hope that means water supply should not be a major problem for a while yet. During droughts the water companies used to keep telling us that summer rains never did much good for supplies anyway.

So we may only suffer a lack of pure steam because of an obvious high fire risk quite soon. But shouldn't be queuing at bowsers etc for quite a while.

I hope! LOL!

 

And 2007 started much like this year with very dry, warm spring. Come the summer we had widespread flooding. Wait and see, could go either way yet.


STEVE

 

The South West would seem to be worse than Kent. I believe two reservoirs supplying Plymouth are less than 85% full when they're normally much nearer 100% (after reduced Winter rains of course).
Lots of countryside in, and around, Dorset is tinder dry and no appreciable rain forecast for the near future!

 

Could do with some flooding on Elmley Marshes RSPB Reserve. Most of the waders on the flood plain the approach track goes through have bu..ered off now!

 

Fingers crossed! No steam ban announced anywhere. London hit 27 degrees yesterday but the west of the country a little cooler at around 22 degrees.

Just imagine the sea wall at Dawlish on Saturday. A packed beach with boring old HST's trundling past every hour then, out of the blue, a double headed steam train with a rake of 12 coaches to stir the grockles (Devon slang for tourists) as the train heads west.

Just imagine the emotions that will be going throught their heads, dads, mums and kids alike, many of whom will never have seen a steam train, let along in the flesh and on the mainline. WOW!

Bring it on!

 

Well there was a lineside fire at Bonnybridge today - hopefully steam not involved?! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-13153920

 

Looks more like an "industrial" fire rather than a open country lineside fire.

 

Yep. This has also been mentioned on the GB IV thread and looking at the timings, the train wasn't routed past the location anyway.

 

The "record beating" merchants are out, mentioned on the radio yesterday that this April is "the hottest on record". Already been mentioned that February this year was "the driest on record". Every year there is always some sort of weather record broken, usually the hottest or driest. The climate/seasons in this country is definitely going t**s up. Also remember Octobers are unusually warm these days.

 

Illegal whisky still explosion?.............

 

And a rather wet summer for the last two years.

 

LOL!

I believe this is the hottest, driest spell since records began for an April when a UK Monarch reached the age of 85 and a Royal Wedding took place.

 

Warnings announced yesterday for walkers to take great care not to start a fire in the Peak District due to the very dry condtions.

And the last BBC news had a report about what I think was a very severe fire somewhere in the country caused by the dry weather. Only heard part of it though...............

To keep pure main line steam running this year we need Carol King to sing her song again........ I know others did it, but I always thought her's the best version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZFIMeg15BA

 

Brecon Beacons I think......