North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Back to all steam today, as well, except for the 10.43 Grosmont-Whitby and 12.35 Whitby-Grosmont which have to be the Cl.37 as the steam loco needs to go on shed for an FTR before going to Whitby. This used to be done at Pickering but involved two people travelling from Grosmont every morning. N.R. rules require an FTR each morning so it can't be done the evening before as is the norm with NYMR only locos. Doing it at the end of the day is a better arrangement as it allows time for any minor faults found to be rectified before the next day but, as I said, it isn't allowed with steam locos over N.R.

 

And yet railtour locos are indeed FTR'd the day before.

 

The difference there being that railtour locos are kept in steam overnight, whereas NYMR locos, for reasons that I still try to fully comprehend, traditionally all drop their fires at the end of the day. The pros and cons of this practice would make for a far more interesting discussion than any of the endless livery debates that usually occur here.

Peter

 

So ... do you actually drop the fire at the end of the day, or just leave the it to burn itself out overnight?

Tom

 

Re fitness to run examinations. It's interesting that for a unit preparation on certain a Network Rail TOC lasts for 24 hours from the time of sign off. So if you do it at 2200 it will be valid until 2159 the following day.

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There is/was a requirement somewhere for a steam locomotive to be examined when it is put into steam before use on N.R. I thought it was in MT276 but, having checked, I can't find it. Neither is it in 2003 or 4472 (RSSB documents). As the fires are not left in overnight on the NYMR the loco is effectively being put into steam each day and requires an FTR each morning. I know that this has been looked into and that is the conclusion reached. Currently on holiday so struggling to get better information.

 

Fires should not be left in overnight unless they are being looked after by someone. That's common sense and the view of the ORR. It used to be a legal requirement in the days of coal fired boilers in industry but, with industrial boilers now generally being gas or oil fired and having automatic controls that will kill the burners if a dangerous condition is detected, modern legislation does not require it.
It is arguable whether a boiler being left with a fire to burn down is leaving it in a safe situation. If there was ever an incident, such as a burst tube leading to a low water level and overheating of a firebox and subsequent explosion, you wouldn't have much of a defence. A remote possibility, you might say, but it is remote possibilities that are usually the cause of incidents because people don't think they will happen.

The NYMR policy is to drop the fires at the end of the day as they are left unattended.

 

Looks like the 9F has had a spin on Pickering turntable, now facing North.

 

To even out tyre wear.

 

Seems the service has been reduced due to fire risk https://www.nymr.co.uk/north-yorksh...oapsYAHBE1Mn5BXecK9_y7oKT43WI55F5x_tyVgV2q33c

 

We're staying near pickering for the next week. Is the loco roster published in advance?

 

Am I right in thinking If you're on the 10.35 out of Grosmont, you cannot come back from Pickering until 15.00 ? Three hours in Pickering is not ideal if that's the the case.

 

Yes, but at least that's time for lunch, Beck Isle museum, the castle, etc. Try going the other way on a Sunday - what do you do for three and half hours in Grosmont?!

 

Thankfully we're booked on the curry train next Friday, so not much waiting about. That's if it runs !

 

I've been sat here trying to work out the latest timetable and the associated ECS.

My understanding of the layout at Whitby is that it can't take 2 NYMR trains at once... With That in mind, the 9.20 from Pickering arrives at Whitby at 11.10...

Meanwhile, the set from Grosmomt must run ECS to Whitby and forms the 10.00 from Whitby, the 12.00 from Pickering and then presumably the 14.00 from Whitby?

But does that mean the set that started at Pickering goes the whole way back to Pickering ECS to form the 15.00 round trip from Pickering? And if so, that presumably would leave both sets at Pickering, so a further ECS balancing move would be required to get a set to Grosmomt for the next day...

Am I over thinking this, because that seems like a lot of ECS mileage?

 

You could always go into the Station Tavern and experience the Basil Fawlty of North Yorkshire.

 

From what I can work out, there's an ECS about 11.30 from Whitby to Pickering to form the 15.00, and another at 16.00 from Pickering to Grosmont off the 15.40 arrival. 42 miles of empty stock moves.

 

I'm on holiday at the moment so out of the loop but, as far as I can see, there are no ECS workings apart from the early morning Grosmont - Whitby train to get the loco and set to Whitby for the 10.00 departure. This set then works the 12.00 ex Pickering, 14.00 ex Whitby and 16.00 ex Pickering. A second set works the 09.20 ex Pickering, 12.35 ex Whitby, 15.00 ex Pickering and 17.10 ex Whitby. Why the 12.35 and 16.00 aren't shown in the emergency T/T is probably a mistake.

 

It's very odd - a full round trip (Gros - Whit - Pick - Gros) running unadvertised. The morning run to Whitby I can understand, but not the rest of the day. It doesn't make any sense to run four services but say passengers can only travel on three of them.

 

In the end last week the rest of my family decided against travelling, the pre-booking and set trains making it too restricted. We spent the day between Grosmont and Goathland watching trains, spending a small fortune in the shed shop (my son now has a guide book, five more plinthed trains for his collection and a t-shirt) and exploring Goathland. A short video from last Monday with 76079, 80136 & 37403 standing in for 825...



Photos to follow