VT: Ticket to Ride with 7029 - 11/07/26

If you study the timings for Winsford at the time that 44871 passed through, it is surely more than a coincidence that the fire started around that time. <BJ>

Realtime Trains | Departures from Winsford around 1740 on 11/07/2026

 

It appears that the application of bans/different colour levels is very far from consistent. So, much as I love main line steam, I cannot understand why any steam was allowed to run in any areas that have been so obviously very, very dry. IF the LE move was the culprit this time, that is extremely unfortunate and ironic, being the working least likely to require any real effort. With the country rapidly turning brown and yellow, and with only very localised rain forecast over huge swathes of the country for the next several weeks, I fear there may (justifiably) be very little steam anywhere this summer.

 

Were the thick stems shown here cut back after the fire or before? It would seem a fundamental thing to prioritise the removal of vegetation around equipment such as this.

 

I feel this was a very Well handled and very swiftly dealt with line side fire that caused the signalling equipment cable damage (im not going to speculate what caused the lineside fire) on the W.C.M.L. near Winsford area from N.R. lineside engineers V.T. stewards and avanti station staff for eventually getting all stranded passengers back home to Birmingham and the west midlands.
And the constant updates from the V.T. guard updating us all on the ticket to ride tour about N.R. updates on if we could proceed ahead to Warrington B.Q. And eventually past the damaged area of signal cable to crewe and onwards to Birmingham.
I really feel sorry for those passengers and just general revelers and commuters stranded on Warrington trying to go north or south on the W.C.M.L. in the extreme heat although warrington B.Q. was quite breezy and especially the elderly all of us stuck on the ticket to ride for whom perhaps dident make it back to their homes maybe in the early hours of sunday morning thankfully.
Me and my friend who had travelled to Nuneaton to join the V.T. ticket to ride tour via Manchester piccadilly from Brighouse luckily only had to get to Brighouse via Manchester Victoria luckily east to west via warrington B.Q. there were trains running so i consider anyone else who was on the ticket to ride from the north or north west areas quite fortunate to get home despite our west midlands friends been stranded practically the full saturday night i give kind regards to them all V.T. and N.R. and avanti worked hard to get the passengers on the V.T. tour home safely
Davo.

 

Almost certainly after, or the cut stems would be blackened too.