Kent & East Sussex Railway

An article in either Steam Railway or Heritage Railway said its a new blend from CPL which, with the correct firing technique, has been viewed as a decent alternative to coal in the absence of the real thing.

 

Hunslet's are never 'run of the mill.'

 

I'm not footplate crew but my understanding was that there were 2 flavours doing the rounds earlier in the year, the crushed Neath anthracite was what we had on the GWSR (and I think Bluebell Tom?) and was useless, CPL 'wildfire' (?) was trialled by I think NYMR and KWVR and seemed to receive better reviews as I recall, but there were some questions over chlorine content?

 

There's an alternative low chlorine version available now which seems to be giving good results. Like all new technologies, there is a learning curve.

 

We’re excited to announce that our longest & most complex restoration project – 1940’s GWR Diesel Railcar W20 – has been given a major boost with a grant of £20K from the Association for Industrial Archaeology
This generous grant takes us closer to putting historic railcar W20 back into service in time for our 50th birthday in 2024 so that it can reprise the leading role it played at the re-opening of the railway in February 1974.

 

An interesting news article on KMTV about the financial and volunteer challenges facing the K&ESR. 15 minutes into the video

 

Mr Coombs certainly looks the part as GM of a Col Stevens line

But yes sobering viewing

 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kmtv/v...attling-with-the-cost-of-living-crisis-53941/
Should take you direct to the article without having to endure 15 mins of fly tipping in Thanet!

 

Thank you. That news anchorwoman has the most irritating voice.

 

I see from the loco roster that for the Santas, Northiam is joined by visiting locos Swiftsure, Sapper & Jessie.

Post Christmas trains are Swiftsure & Sapper.

 

I believe the service pattern requires three of those four Hunslets to be in use on each day.

First service runs top&tailed Tenterden to Northiam.

One loco then drops off there and works second service back to Tenterden.
Loco off second service remains at Northiam to work return of third train etc.

This provides ample time at Northiam for taking water, and presumably avoids the watering at Rolvenden which delays the usual public services on the up.

 

What's the story behind the naming history that means Northiam was once named Sapper, but there's then another Sapper - did one replace the other, or were two locos of the same class in in two different locations coincidentally named the same thing?

 

Proper industrial magic there- thats almost a gala!

Chris

 

Both are ex-army Austerities and Sapper is a name, associated with the Royal Engineers, which has been carried by a number of Army locos at different times.

3163 was called Sapper only for a short time before being sold by the Army in ‘62. It was called Joseph by the time it was withdrawn by the NCB at Bold Colliery in the 80s.

3797 was called Sapper from ‘65 to ‘79 when it was sold by the Army. It had arrived at KESR in ‘77 with the nameplates still fitted but, before completion of the sale, the Army wanted them back.

 

I hate to sound like a party pooper but I do notice everyone is making such a massive hubbub about these 0-6-0st industrials and yet, when 4144 visited the railway, nobody gave a damn, it was barely used and quite frankly, ignored most of the time.

If this is the attitude [typical SR] then what is the point of having 1638, 4253, 5668 and 6619?
Surely they could go to a GWR railway where they will be appreciated more.

 

They were appreciated enough to keep the trains running. I'm sure when 1638s bottom end repairs are complete. It will be appreciated a lot more. 4253 will also mean that 25 and 30065 can have a rest in between service life. So much more to a railways locomotive strategy than that. And given 4144 was a hire-in, it has hire fees and possibly a limited amount of days in service so it makes sense to only use it when required.

I'm not sure of the comparison on the ins and outs but Austerities seem to be a cheap robust option to run in comparison to something else

 

Didn't 4144 last visit the KESR in 2020? Wasn't that the year of Covid lockdowns? A lot of railways saw traffic figures down that year, so a reluctance to use the loco and incur hire charges is perhaps not so surprising. As for an SR bias? The KESR have chosen to build a GWR fleet so I think it is safe to assume that they do like them.

Note to OP - engage brain before posting juvenile drivel!

 

Col. Stephens would absolutely have bought job lots of Austerities if he was around for their demobbing. Like you say, they're robust and have worked KESR trains for years with little complaint about their abilities. And crews will be passed on them so they're easier to bring into service. And the less said about the ignored user's dogmatic, juvenile posting the better.

 

It made a further visit in November 2021-September 2022