Bluebell Railway General Discussion

They'll certainly be cooked afterwards!

 

Whoops . Edited the post to correct the mistake​

 

On Wednesday, both the 1045 and 1415 have group bookings.

On Thursday, all group bookings have been moved to the 1045.


I wonder whether a short set will be used or what other measures will be in place.

 

How many bookings and how many open wagons do you have?



https://www.rdmrc.org.uk/doku.php?id=tripsandoutings:fawleyhill

 

Looks like 60 on the 1015 on both Wednesday and Thursday.

A further 30 on the Wednesday 1415.

All seem to be coach parties.

 

When I asked one of the Atlantic Team on AGM day, they said it was simply in the works to have a little bit ground off one of the frame rivets, since there was insufficient clearance from the back of one of the driving wheels. This isn't a serious fault, since we've lived with it for two years!

Also when looking at washout days, you need to factor in that the RO plant is now enabling significantly extended periods between washouts.

 

It's not quite true to say 32424 has failed, and certainly nothing related to Didcot. The clearance between the pony truck wheels and the rear frames is very tight, and that is being investigated to look to see how the clearance can be adjusted. It is an issue that has been known about for some time. The loco was built to original drawings but it is entirely feasible that at some point the originals had modifications, which may have been documented or even just managed by the fitters. (Looking back through the project web pages, there is a note about a drawing being discovered late in the build about modifications to the side play of the rear wheel set).

On washouts: boiler chemistry is measured regularly and washout schedules are based around that. With the recent introduction of RO water, the expectation is that the gap between washouts will increase.

Tom

 

@RichardSalmon @Jamessquared Thanks both.

I appreciate that 32424 hasn't 'failed' as such and I'm aware it isn't anything to do with Didcot - poor phrasing on my part there. I suppose I used the word to mean 'did not fulfil booked turns'. If the O1 turns up, then to me that would potentially count as failed! It had also been put rather dramatically to me by a couple of friends who had said things were wrong with it.

Thanks for the insight on washouts. Hopefully the RO plant is proving its worth.

 

A word of advice; if you are going to Fawley Hill, (or anywhere else where they have open wagons behind the steam loco working hard) don't wear anything that you wouldn't want to throw away afterwards. Fawley Hill is a great day out, by the way.

 

73082 will work set A this weekend (27th/28th - MRW) vice 34059.

This leaves:
73082 A
2999 B
32424 C NORTH
72 C SOUTH

This frustratingly renders the public timetable wrong but I fully apprecicate that crew safety and welfare is by far more important than anything else.

 

If there weren’t locos on it then it wouldn’t be wrong

 

Fawley's fine, the loco works hard enough that the sparks are cold by the time they come back down!

 

and you wouldn't believe the sound echoing down the valley as No 31 thumps up the 1 in 14 onto the 1 in 13 gradient. Definitely worth a visit, though I would say that wouldn't I !

 

The afternoon 1415 round trip for today and tomorrow have been cancelled with all groups moved to the 1045.

I understand that the dining trains on Friday have now been cancelled.

As far as I know Model Railway Weekend is still planned to go ahead.

 

It looks like it will be cooler by then.

To

 

Waiting to rejoin the Bluebell fleet.

 

But Beachy Head was not actually booked to run, since it was in the works, so the failure was one of having out of date information available that was not corrected... ;-)

 

Ahah! I've been wondering where 3068 had got to. Will it require internal work done at Horsted Keynes? Then will it go on the Rambler in place of 3064?

 

On SP webcam - 32424 out on test today.

 

What is its story? (Is it on loan, or rental, or did the Bluebell buy it, or what?) (This seems to be its Heritage Register entry.)

Noel