Availability of Main Line Steam Fleet

Did you join this site specifically to tell us what we can't discuss? because to date that seems to be 100% of your content, in your very brief tenure so far.

 

There is at least half a rake of air braked coaches used on the pm Jacobite service.

 

Wasn't the Ollie work axle rather than tyre work, made more complicated by the fact that as she has roller bearings (I may have imagined this all), thus it should not be such a problem with Braunton?

 

OK - a spot of 7/11 breathing required I think - I have stated I won't be responsible for my actions the next time anyone uses that phrase in my earshot!

If you took your car in for repairs and they said that to you, would you accept it?

In the middle of winter, if your boiler broke down and a plumber said that to you, how would you react?

If a business's payroll department said 'we'll pay you when we pay you', would you 'down tools'?

If this entire sector (mainline and heritage) is going to survive long term, it has got to up its game with planning, costing and delivering engineering work so that the machinery needed to deliver the service advertised is available. And yes, I know this starts back at 'this is the service we believe there is the customer demand for, what resources do we need to operate it, who much will that realistically cost and is that service model viable and sustainable?'

And the Engineers who daily perform miracles of repairs and getting locos back into traffic suffer from the lack of basic, long term joined up thinking as any disappointed passenger or frustrated promoter.

Steven

 

Just being realistic, No gloom or doom from me, Let me ask you a question, Are you here just to shout people down who may not share your view point ?

Your coming at this from the wrong angle completely,
Everyone is trying their best and rants like that from yourself and others, Must make them think is it all worth it ?
Mainline steam's been dealt a bad hand the past few years losing Clan Line, Tangmere etc,
Things can only get better, But no amount of ranting is gonna help it.

 

I don't think you have quite got the hang of this yet.

Speculation is the life blood of NP but is certainly not meant to help anyone.
Locos might be ready when they are ready but it is not soon enough and someone is at fault.
Mainline steam enthusiasts are usually disappointed and when they are not they are disappointed that they are not.
Owners know nothing and only buy locomotives to disappoint steam enthusiasts.

 

They are just letting blood pressure rise for no reason then,
I'm sure them needing to burn someone at the stake for something not being ready, Is really spurring them on to work harder and faster.
I've said it before and I've said it again, They all soon hide once an invitation to donate funds or bodies to help, Is Asked for,
If they want such and such to be anywhere near ready on time, Why don't they put a keyboard to good use, Look up who or what you want to help and offer your services.

 

I was not shouting, merely enquiring if you actually had anything to offer the forum other than telling people what they can and can't talk about, and you have absolutely no idea of my viewpoint because I didn't offer one, as it seems we need your approval first.

 

Advice you don't appear to follow yourself, if your brief bio is truthful!

 

Rather than being a rant, I suspect @Bean-counter has a more accurate and informed grasp on the realities of preservation than most people on NP!

Tom

 

Careful! I might be being ironically ironic.

 

It doesn't

 

So.............

We have a main line Steam Fleet which with the exception of Tornado is 60+ years old - and even Tornado's technology is that old

We don't have a fleet of identical loco's so you cant replace a failed machine easily - and at any one time the available fleet is very small

Its a technology that even in its heyday was apt to be a little unpredictable

So sometimes it all goes wrong

 

Speak for yourself? Most commercial Loco engineers that I know are quiet adept at "joined up thinking" and planning.

 

While I agree Steven's railway related comments are generally worth a read, I don't understand this one. The main steam loco operators have their own workshops so rigid contracts between one arm of the business and another are somewhat moot. For independent owners, the businesses undertaking loco overhauls are effectively men of straw, so even if they were sporting enough to agree fixed schedules and meaningful liquidated damages for delay, and/or fixed prices, there is effectively little practical redress.

 

Taking this valid point and looking to the future. There are only so many potential passengers available and only so many paths available for excursions on the main line.
When the P2, Grange, Patriot and other new builds are completed, enthusiasts will want to see those on the main line and the owners will want to have these new locos on excursion work to claw back a little of their expenditure.
If you follow my thinking; will the likes of Castles, West Countries and Jubilees etc find they are no longer in demand?

 

All vey nice but railway preservation is not like having your car serviced, when a loco comes out of traffic the owners will make a guess at what will be involved in the overhaul and hope the funds they have will cover it, then Sod's law cuts in and unforseen problems come up when the boiler is stripped. A good case in point is Clan Line where the date for return to traffic has been put back to March 2017 and further funds are required to complete the job and that's a loco that has had regular work and high earnings from steaming fees.
When everything comes back together the owners will then have to focus on funding the next overhaul, hence they will be booked for tours before the load test is done. If anything goes wrong with that yes people will be disappointed but what's the alternative with an operation based largely on volunteers and the generosity of the steam enthusiast?

 

Hence it will be ready when its ready, Costly mistakes can be made by rushing locos , Just to please the few.

 

But if you ask me when I'm going to finish restoring my 1970 250 Yamaha that's exactly the answer you're going to get.
Only if *you* have a contract *directly* with *me* will any more detail be forthcoming.