35018 British India Line

45699 last ran on the Fellsman at the end of May with no issues I believe.

 

But all other things aren't equal. That is why your argument is flawed. If you have two locos in which everything is equal except the wheel diameter, the smaller wheeled loco will have a higher tractive effort and will thus be able to accelerate more quickly (adhesion permitting), of that there is no doubt. However, your statement was that a V2 will accelerate more quickly than an A4 simply because it has smaller wheels.

 

35018 is shown as unavailable for the Bournemouth Belle and End of SR steam runs. It is still shown on the June 21 Scarborough so, is this a bureaucratic 'failure'?

 

Why so ? If West Coast want to sell all of its Scarborough Tours with 35018 on the front then surely that’s what they would obviously do . I assume there’s more money running the Spas than doing a trip here and there

 

No, West coast can't spare her to send her down south just yet, not sure what the reason is.

 

No, my argument is that a loco with nominally lower TE but smaller drivers will be "better" at starting a train than a bigger wheeled loco with similar wheel arrangement and slightly higher TE. The V2/A4 was a useful comparison because the cylinder dimensions are otherwise identical so the wheel size is the big difference. You have experience of both I'd guess so which would you choose to start a train on the 1/49 if required?

 

I understand that 45690 needs repairs after last week's failures and 45699 is undergoing routine maintenance hence the shortage of available locomotives. RTC has already withdrawn the 2 July runs mooted for haulage by 35018 with a note that they will be operated in October thus leaving 35018 in post for the York - Scarborough runs through July.

 

Devils advocate Steve, WC would get the same return if they used the 8F on the SSE give or take a few quid? I agree with BigAl though, its a sensible running in turn. MN18 has already proved well capable of more strenuous duties though so it seems a bit over cautious. Not our engine, so let them get on with accumulating miles to the coast as deemed necessary. Maybe next year it will be the big fell basher.

 

By Virtue of the better starting TE then other factors aside obviously the A4. The useful point about the V2 is probably adhesion and the adhesion to cylinder thrust ratio suggest that a V2 would be a much surer starter, wheel diameter a bit of a red herring on this one. A more useful comparison for your argument would be between black 5 / 8F or thompson 01 / b1. Here the smaller wheels/ higher TE and better adhesion clearly suggest the freight engines start better and accelerate faster but the cost is that the point of best working is at a lower speed.

 

I've only had the V2 twice and I've certainly never had to try starting a train on the 1 in 49 with either a V2 or A4. Only experience of successfully this is with 71000, 75029 and 6619.

 

Not S15?

 

Theres lots of footage of Merchants back in the day , where the slip on starting is almost inevitable, what was it about their make up that made it so... ?

 

Perhaps it is the regulator design, this can significantly affect the ability of a loco to start without slip. It is a factor often ignored.

 

Never had to stop with it so never had to start it on the bank.

 

Every Big Un (Duchess) slipped when pulling out of Crewe Station.

 

Maybe there is simply more film of them available, on account of enthusiasts chasing them at the end of steam when steam was on its last days and there was a rush to record what was still available before it went?

Tom

 

At Waterloo they also had some pretty ropey and uneven track to deal with as this picture shows, a Pacific wheel arrangement is not particularly good for starting anyway. I would think that all termini stations suffered the same with years of the track being undermined by water from injector overflows and general leakage where locos have stood for some time. There could be some fairly spectacular slipping at both Euston and Kings Cross so it wasn't just Bulleids

 

And once the modernisation programme began, there was oil all over the tracks.

 

Oil all over the tracks dates back to the introduction of the excellent top feed axlebox lubrication arrangement

 

At Waterloo etc