Mountains, Rivers, Garratts and some retired admiraly......

.....are to be found in some photos I took between fireing turns on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland railways last week, with a brief call in to Ravens Square on the way home to see Chevallier, on my fotopic site: http://chappers.fotopic.net/c1893561.html As well as some of Lyd being made ready.

 

Lovely photos, Owen. 138 seems to have been used very little....why?

 

Because oil is expensive, and that train drinks a lot of it.

 

Locomotive.

 

I understand that point and accordingly that you would roster 87 in preference. But if you look at the loco roster on the WHR website they appear appear to have been rostering a diesel with K1 in preferance to when Steam is shown as being rostered. Is it really so uneconomical and costly that it better to double head and have to have two crews etc than 138.

Also I would have thought rostering a diesel, even if double headed with K1 might discourage a small minority. I had thought of having a trip this week on Tuesday as I expect to be near by so I thought I would make a brief diversion. The 12:10 is the one that really fits in with my schedule but I am a bit less tempted to do so if there is a diesel on the front.

I have similar thought about the Snowdon Mountain Railway. I would love to do it but would want to experience steam rather than diesel as I would have enough guilt anyway catching the train rather than walking up!

 

Yes it is, the figures I've heared for 138 are ridiculous. K1 does do most of the work on those trips, the diesel is just there to help out, it also give people the chance to ride behind the first ever Garratt, that surely cannot be a bad thing.