Fire Risk and Preserved Lines

For those not allergic to Facebook, some of the comments from the armchairists under this post beggar belief ….

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1216899180474142&set=a.644578384372894

 

And for those who do not wish to give Zuckerberg his clicks:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgj9zxyg30o

 

Oops I never finished that post, got distracted by warring grandkids …. It was the comments that were of interest - now edited

 

Is the Churnet Valley still operating steam as normal during the dry weather?

 

I was on the Bluebell yesterday (Fri 29th) and noted that Camelot had a petrol water pump and fire hose on the rear of the tender by the filler

 

IIRC, the fire was in a cottage upwind of the line given the prevailing conditions. The occupants were preparing for a wedding so numerous electrical appliances were in use such as hairdryers etc. I think "not proven" is a fair assessment.

 

A correction to the above, that fire started after a double headed steam service had passed. One loco worked on 21" vacuum and the other was a 25" vacuum loco. The visiting 21" was working extra hard due to the braking system not being equalised and little evidence was found of the fire propagating upwards.

I passed the scene of the latest fire yesterday and it was not a pretty sight. I hope that the insurance cover is sufficient and there are no quibbles over sensible precautions not being taken. Whether insurance cover can be renewed at a future date is another question. The finances are not in a healthy state as it is.

 

Did no one know they are supposed to pull all the strings when a change of vacuum occurs? The brakes must have been dragging all the way

 

If they hadn't pulled the strings, they wouldn't have been able to set off at all I wouldn't have thought. Possibly whilst in motion the 25" loco did a bit too much sucking at one point?

 

I know of a case where the crop near the railway failed for some reason and the shadow of suspicion was thrown on the railway’s weed killer train. Fortunately the wind was a)not more than a breeze that day and b) blowing away from the field.