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Help For Heroes, now 25th February 2012

Discussion in 'What's Going On' started by Dan Hill, Jun 23, 2011.

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  1. 92143

    92143 New Member

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    A real disappointment this trip is not running. February 25th is not a good date for the postponed train. Days even shorter than October and weather will be much colder. So that is 4 from Devon who won't be making the drive up to Didcot. It won't be to 40th Anniversary either. May be we can do it in 10 years time for the Golden Jubilee of the return to steam on the main line!!
     
    92143, Oct 2, 2011
    #61
  2. david1984

    david1984 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    Im trying to look at this trip on it's own and see it as a minor glitch with gauging that occasionally happens, but after the 'fun and games' over the last fortnight with some trips getting cancelled for seemingly suspicious reasons, i have to say i don't trust anything Network Rail come out with anymore and i think an increasing number are feeling the same.

    Personally i hope the mags shame Network Rail for this farce considering the cause was for a high profile charity.
     
    david1984, Oct 3, 2011
    #62
  3. campainr

    campainr Well-Known Member

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    Thing is though this problem was flagged up during the Shakespeare season in July, and this trip had been planned for ages.

    5043 is in gauge while 6024 isn't. The width involved must be incredibly (or stupidly) small.........
     
    campainr, Oct 3, 2011
    #63
  4. ADB968008

    ADB968008 Guest

    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    If you trust Wikipedia, there is only 0.5 inch difference in width.
     
    ADB968008, Oct 4, 2011
    #64
  5. green five

    green five Resident of Nat Pres

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    Had another letter today, this one being from the 6024 Society. It seems that 6024 is now out of gauge in a lot of places according to Network Rail. The problems are now due to the width of the loco. The 6024members special has also had to be put back to another date until a full report of the routes the King can work has been made available.
     
    green five, Oct 8, 2011
    #65
  6. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    And the line between in gauge and out has to be taken somewhere, annoying as it is you can't really go moving the limits by half an inch.
     
    RalphW, Oct 8, 2011
    #66
  7. campainr

    campainr Well-Known Member

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    I remember once the King came into Shrewsbury from the south I think and almost literally scraped along the edge of the platform at dead slow speed. Surely it wasn't "in gauge" then so was an exception made?
     
    campainr, Oct 8, 2011
    #67
  8. david1984

    david1984 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    From what was said earlier in the year that Halls were now in gauge for Bordesley, how can a King be wider than a Hall ?.

    Im starting to side with Frank on the gauging issue now, just because something is still in gauge for regular traffic is no excuse for allowing contractors to get away with doing a sloppy job, they should be told in future to do it EXACTLY as it should be on or NR won't award them any future contracts.

    On a similar point is it even safe that some clowns that can't replace track properly to the measurements specified are allowed to work on 125MPH stretches of Railway ?, personally at those speeds i'd like the alignment to be inch perfect than 'sort of right'
     
    david1984, Oct 8, 2011
    #68
  9. Oakfield

    Oakfield Guest

    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    Or, to put it another way, the King is in gauge but Notwork Fail's railway isn't!:rolleyes1:
     
    Oakfield, Oct 8, 2011
    #69
  10. ADB968008

    ADB968008 Guest

    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    Don't forget, if it is only 0.5 inch difference, assuming swindon are not cock-eyed.. That's 0.25 inch eitherside of a centrally balanced frame over it's wheels ?

    Quoting Wikipedia:

    King
    Width 8*ft*11*1⁄2*in (2.73*m)

    Castle
    Width 8*ft*11*in (2.70*m)

    Hall
    Width 8*ft*11*1⁄4*in (2.72*m)

    Modified hall
    Width 8*ft*11*1⁄2*in (2.73*m)

    Grange
    Width 8*ft*11*1⁄4*in (2.72*m)

    By comparison

    Standard 5 4-6-0
    Width 8*ft*9*in (2.67*m)

    Britannia
    Width 8*ft*8*3⁄4*in (2.66*m)

    Class 47
    Width 8*ft*10*in (2.69*m)

    And from the horses mouth...

    http://www.rgsonline.co.uk/Railway_...tructure/Codes of Practice/GCRC5504 Iss 1.pdf
    Page 10, 6.3.2

    And, page 11, 7.7
    it would appear width upto 2820mm on freight lines, as long as two out of gauge movements will not pass.


    However W6 standard is 2.70m... Putting everything great western above, except the Castle out of gauge.
    Berne gauge goes to 3.15m
     
    ADB968008, Oct 8, 2011
    #70
  11. RalphW

    RalphW Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Administrator Friend

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    I've been agreeing with Frank on this for some time, there is no excuse for not only sloppy workmanship, but poor quality control in the poor job being accepted.
     
    RalphW, Oct 8, 2011
    #71
  12. campainr

    campainr Well-Known Member

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    Well if the Hall is clear at a quarter inch thinner, how can the King possibly be disallowed?

    A quarter of an inch: ----- less than the length of those hyphens, against a full sized loco?

    Madness. :frusty:
     
    campainr, Oct 8, 2011
    #72
  13. Guest

    Guest Part of the furniture Account Suspended

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    Re: Help For Heroes/40th Anniversary of Mainline Steam Return Special October 8th

    The only - and I do mean only - caveat is that we aren't dealing with a static measurement - but the kinetic envelope of the rolling stock concerned. In layman's language call it how much your loco waggles on the track and the volume of air space needed to 100% accommodate any potential waggle.

    But when NR are running about at the dead of night with laser equipped recording trains putting everything on a database - why is there a problem?? And if the answer is at certain pinch points like Bridge 39 at Harrogate - then get there and look at why.

    Is the structure sagging - is the track wrongly tamped. Has the track slewed?? NR has a statutory obligation to provide a railway fit for use. It should do it.
     
    Guest, Oct 8, 2011
    #73
  14. green five

    green five Resident of Nat Pres

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    I found it a bit worrying when travelling on the CE trip to Ely last Monday that when the trips for next year were mentioned over the PA system on the train the Help For Heroes trip didn't even get a mention. For a charity train I would have thought promoting it a bit better would have been a good thing to do. I know CE are only the booking agents but as the run is also using 60163 (which was also hauling the Ely trip) I'm surprised it never got mentioned.
     
    green five, Dec 18, 2011
    #74
  15. Oakfield

    Oakfield Guest

    Agreed, this is not good.
     
    Oakfield, Dec 18, 2011
    #75
  16. spindizzy

    spindizzy Member

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    No mention of it on the Chester Trip on the 3rd either. The only trips being advertised were ones up to Christmas so it may not all be bad news.
     
    spindizzy, Dec 19, 2011
    #76
  17. campainr

    campainr Well-Known Member

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    Probably just pushing pre-Christmas bookings. They have all of January to drum up support for next year's programme.
     
    campainr, Dec 20, 2011
    #77
  18. spindizzy

    spindizzy Member

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    That's what I was hoping.
     
    spindizzy, Dec 20, 2011
    #78
  19. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    Seeing that 6024 can't do the UKRT trip to Stratford after Xmas because it is out of gauge somewhere, perhaps we shouldn't be holding our breath for the Feb trip either?
     
    Big Al, Dec 20, 2011
    #79
  20. Oakfield

    Oakfield Guest

    Now listed on Steam Dreams website. However for loco. allocation it just says 'Help for Heroes' locomotives. Make of that what you will.
     
    Oakfield, Dec 21, 2011
    #80
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