The Great Britain VIII

Now that IS ambitious!

 

To bad no K1 or K4. Maybe both of them shall be at nymr gala. ?

 

It should all be doable IF DBS can operate it and sub the vac only locos rostered with a combination of Riley 5s and 34067. 60007 might be an option if it is fit and free of other commitments. Most planned are already dual braked.
Assume sufficient air fitted stock can be procured.

 

The issue of 34067 and DBS came up earlier, didn't it? It's not one of the locos that DBS operate. AFAIK, DBS has an annual inspection programme for the locos that it might operate, and 34067 isn't included. In normal times, only WCRC crews operate the Carnforth locos.

Vac-only locos: 46115 would need to be replaced on the Grange - Edinburgh day, and so would 45690 & 61306 on the final day. My guess is that Britannia would head the first day from Victoria, with one of Ian R's Fives assisting beyond Exeter. The Fives could do the Cumbrian Coast and Beattock (one or both of them needs to get from Carnforth to Inverness anyway), and either Britannia or the Fives again on the last day - I don't expect 46233 is gauge-cleared for that route, though I could be wrong.

There are going to be 3 issues:
1) Availability of DBS crews, most importantly steam drivers / inspectors, but also passenger guards - not sure how many DBS have?
2) Availability of conductors for routes that DBS steam drivers aren't familiar with (west of Plymouth? Cumbrian Coast? Far North? Which others?). Otherwise, those sections will probably go ahead with diesel power.
3) Availability of replacement air-braked locos and their support crews - again the alternative is diesel power.
I suppose we'll count ourselves lucky if it runs with more than 60% steam haulage...

So far, none of the planned steam tours have been re-arranged with DBS crews. The only WCRC tour that I'm aware has run as promised since 3rd April was Saturday's diesel trip to Chester.

Is anyone on here booked on GB8? Have you heard anything from RTC yet? I wonder what the practical deadline is for deciding whether to run it or not? 10 days before departure?

 

Is accepting 34067 on to the 'books' of DBS not similar to when they might take rolling stock owned by others? They review the maintenance records and conduct an engineering examination i suppose followed by Ftr in the way of any other steam loco they operate.
WCRC allowing DBS to operate 34067 would also be a good demonstration of their determination to keep the show on the road as far as possible, as they have said is their intention in the present difficulties.
Time may be against though.

 

I would imagine that before 34067 is allowed out on the mainline again - whoever the TOC - somebody will need to satisfy NR that it has "an effective and secure system of tamper-evident seals for train protection isolator cocks", which presumably it didn't have on March 9th!

 

Three very good points. Don't DBS have a "no double-heading west of Plymouth" rule or some such restriction? They're not overrun with steam crews these days either, so trying to cover the whole of the country with less than a month's notice will be a struggle.

 

Ithink you will see a very slimmed down GB v111 mostly because DBS dont have the crews to run anything like the mileage 34067 would DBS want to risk operating an engine that recently has had so many question marks against it , it may not be as well maintained now as when DBS last used it, they would prefer to use loco's already known to them, i cant see any engines that they dont use on a regular basis being used.

 

Could not Clan Line be used in place of Tangmere as registered with DBS ?

 

My dad was told the same a number of weeks ago,although he managed to bag one of the final seats on the Kyle section (which was open to booking anyway in theory) so nothing appears to have changed there.

 

Well it doesn't sound like they're not expecting it to run which is a good sign.

 

Difficult one this, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Run it, with plenty of diesel mileage, will probably go down Ok with most passengers, as the steam part although advertised is not a deal breaker.
Don't run it, loss of face, loss of hotels deposits, cash loss, cashflow issue etc..., hard to promote next year.

Feel sorry for RTC on this one, they cannot win unfortunately.

 

Don't think it's a double-heading problem. We discussed this at some length last summer in the Royal Duchy and/or Torbay Express threads. IIRC, they don't have any crews that sign the road beyond Plymouth, so a conductor would be needed. Double-heading may be an issue, though, simply because of the small number of steam drivers and where they are based.

If they do run steam west of Plymouth, where will they turn the locos? Recently, DBS has declared the Par TT unsuitable. They've let WCRC use it, but (AIUI) on the understanding that it's against DBS's advice and at WCRC's own risk. The more I think about it, the more it seems likely that Plymouth - Penzance - Plymouth will be diesel hauled, with the steam locos spending the night at Plymouth.

Using a conductor raises another question. Normally DBS allow 4 people on the footplate - driver, fireman, inspector and owner's representative. If they need a conductor as well, who gets off the footplate, or would DBS give special dispensation for 5 in the cab?

 

They have worked around that before on the Kyle Line when operating the Cathedrals Explorer. A pilotman was on the footplate of 61994,behind the driver.

 

Message from a friend of a friend. They're booked on GBVIII and rang RTC today to ask if it was still running, as they need to sort out care for their animals. Apparently they'll make a decision within the next two weeks. Not very useful for passengers, as it begins in less than 3 weeks!