60800 out of water

Wasn't there a tale of two Ivatt tanks running out of water late on in the days of steam somewhere down south on a special? Sorry I can't be more specific, read about it before, but it must have happened in the days of BR steam.

 

Ah yes, the Bridport Belle (also known to punters as the Bridport Hell). Basically, the railtour left Waterloo at around 09.00 behind a Bulleid (West Country i think, not sure of identity). However, engineering works, a derailment at Basingstoke and poor steaming meant the train was two hours down when it reached the junction for the Bridport line.

The two Ivatts then took over and ran to Bridport no trouble. But the water tower was out of use and on the way back the train engine ran out of water half way, meaning the other Ivatt, itself very low on water, had to go to Bridport, fill up and come back and drag the train home. By now it was about 4 hours behind schedule, and when the Bulleid came back on to the train 4 1/2 hours. Brisk running bought it back to 4 but it had missed its path (unsuprisingly), and some signalmen actually came out of their boxes to ask what this weird and unscheduled train was.

Arrival back at Waterloo was about 5 hours late at 00.30, leaving many punters to go home and get any kip they could. being a Sunday, I don't know how many of them made it into the office for 09.00 the next day...

 

wasn't there a dead body found just after they left Basingstoke on the down run? which also helped delayed things.

 

I hadn't heard that but it wouldn't suprise me, you think of something that can go wrong it did that day methinks. There was a feature in the Railway Magazine about it a few years ago, thats where I heard about it

 

Sorry only just seen this.

I think the body was found in the toilet.
The reason the Ivatts ran out of water was stalling on Loders bank, running back several times to have another go, till eventually running dangerously low on water.
The fun didnt stop there as when the Bullied got the road at Maiden Newton the signalman set the points for Bridport, and the train started to set of down the branch again untill the crew realised the mistake.

 

So all you people who complain about late or cancelled specials, bear this tour in mind, your troubles don't end when your train starts out on time...

 

A few years back at Foxfield gala, (before I became a member) Bellerophon ran out of water on the top straight. The fire was rapidly thrown out as a precaution as the train approached Dilhorn Park, but after taking water at the pit, she was back in service...

I was in the front coach as we arrived back at Caverswall Road, and was particularly amused to see the signalman hand over a bottle on mineral water in exchange for the signal line staff.

 

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The Titfield Thunderbolt running out of water scenario was actually based on an incident that happened on the Talyllyn in the very early days. It is mentioned in the late L. T. C. Rolt's book on the Talyllyn when it was first taken over by volunteers.

 

I can confirm that this is true as I was on No.6 I think standing at Dilhorne Park waiting for them to arrive. The reason, apparently, was that the crew were not given the opportunity to fill up before leaving Caverswall Road, but they did spend most of the trip blowing off [-X Of course the funny thing is as soon as they dropped over the hill onto Foxfield Bank bunker first all the water in the well tanks ran to the back, where the injector water feed is and the injectors picked up beautifully!

 

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Yep, I believe the deceased was found in a toilet compartment. The things people do to avoid buying a ticket. :smt002

 

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I was chatting to someone at the bridge at Woking the other day who told me about this tour - he was on it with his girl friend (now wife).

His memory was that the ticket inspectors had broken the door of the loo down, thinking it was a fare dodger in there and that the body had been in there for several days. I won't repeat the other bits of his version of the story suffice to say rigor mortis had set in and did not make the removal easy.

He claimed his wife had refused to go on a rail tour since.

 

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I remember reading about this one, although I wasn't on it so this come under the heading of hearsay! Apparently the two Ivatts, one front, one rear, ran well to the branch terminus, but on the return it began to rain and the little-used rails became very slippery, the two Ivatts slipping to a stand on one of the gradients. They set back and had another go, the passengers at this point enjoying the volcanic exhausts but after half a dozen or so attempts, each getting less far up the bank, the water levels in the engines' tanks started to become critical and concerns began to be expressed on the train. The leading loco was uncoupled and ran light back to the junction, where the MN was waiting. Alas, this engine's axle loads were too heavy for the branch so it couldn't go to the rescue.

Eventually, a diesel arrived and hooked on to the train, drawing it back to the junction, with the little Ivatt using the last of its water banking vigorously at the rear.

The MN had apparently arrived before the run down the branch, and the train was so late that the MN's driver assumed it had been down the branch and had then reveresed. He was all set to hook on!