Llangollen Railway

Correct and also the new-build GWR 47xx 2-8-0.

 

They have no steam locos available this week so diesel only and this is in peak season.

 

Well, as anyone involved with steam locos knows it doesn't take much to go from boom to bust. Stop one for a washout, another blows out a steam joint the third fails a "fitness to run" and you can be left with none, or one depending how flush you were in the first place. I have it on good authority that 3802 is out of use indefinitely, presumably that was why 6430 had to be recalled from the Nene Valley. It was not for no reason that steam sheds had lots of engines sitting around. A good job there are plenty of heritage diesels!

 

What is wrong with 3802? She recently had an overhaul.

 

Llangollen don't have plenty of heritage diesels either .31271 and 47449 are the current fleet .

 

Who told you that load of c**p ?
5199 was running today & will be over the weekend .
6430 will join it next week .
3802 loco is o.k. but tender tyres need turning.
Please get your facts right before putting false information on the forum.

Bob.

 

Only 2 posts, neither of which are very friendly to the Llangollen, the latter of which turns out to just be flat out false. Some might jump to the conclusion of axe grinding....

 

There no was no steam Sunday Monday and Wednesday is that not correct.

 

Could you not ask the 4920 group for a loan of 3803's tender, until yours is rolling again?

 

Here's a photo of this morning's 10.40 'diesel' service leaving Llangollen behind 5199.

 

Someone trying to cause trouble by the tone of some of these messages?! To add to Bob’s reply, 3802 is stopped for tender tyre profiles, but as the loco is privately owned therefore not the railways issue. So with that being withdrawn mid season the 64 was brought back off hire, and has seemingly arrived back in a skip! Been in the shed having work done since it arrived back, so that has had some slight knock on effects to running steam everyday due to ftr exams. On the Sunday the 51 was put on a fully booked driver ex and the diesel used on steam diagram passenger.

Next week there will be DMU and diesel running for 3 days whilst the 51 is taken out for washout, and repairs are finished on the 64, hopefully with it running on the Thursday.

To say that 6880 has left the railway is also false. It was being worked on at Llan by its owning group, not the railway. It’s gone to tyseley to be worked on by its owning group while the boiler is being finished ready for them to fit it. Then due back to Llan.

Foxcote manor is currently away in Somerset for its second season. Not because the owning group don’t want to be at Llangollen, which they certainly do, but because it runs far more there than it would do at Llan. It’s recently had full bottom end overhaul done at Tyseley which was essentially paid for by running at the WSR last season. These locos need to earn a huge amount nowadays to get through a 10 yearly so the ‘home’ railway isn’t always the best option in which to achieve that. Not just our railway but look at how many others now have locos out of traffic with no / not enough money.

 

In defence of 6A Resident and Keith6233 Llangollen Railway did not turn out any steam engines on pasenger services on Sunday July 14, Monday July 15, Wednesday July 16 and Monday July 22. Facebook sites connected to the railway are saying diesel loco Tuesday July 23, DMU Wednesday July 24, diesel Thursday July 25 and DMU Friday July 26. By any standards that's a very poor show from a 'steam' railway (yes, I know things happen but failure to provide what is advertised just shouldn't happen).
There has also been a lot in the railway press about poor steam engineering standards and overcharging, mainly in regard to the 'Patriot' project.
The railway's recent magazine refers to the engineering team being ' a little thin on the ground', but yet the top man in the engineering department has apparently since left, following in the footsteps of the CME a few months earlier.
It's somewhat high-handed to dismiss all this as a 'load of c***p', isn't it?

 

Regardless of whether they are justified or not, it is sad to see a railway which previous had a good reputation for engineering (they certainly seemed to have done a good job on GWS projects) attracting such comments now.

 

Reasons for not having turned out a steam loco on those dates is explained in my message. Locos fail, locos have to be stopped for FTR exams and washouts. The railway has 3 steamable locos on site. Unfortunately only one has been fit to run over recent weeks. One requires the owning group to make a decision on what to do, and the other is having a fair amount of remedial work done having arrived back in very poor condition. Most of the motion was out of the 64 including pistons when I was in the shed last week. So how do you suggest we run what is advertised? Delay a washout and not do an FTR?

 

Also, steam is currently planned to be back in use on Thursday. Just remember this time last year we had no steam in use for the best part of a month. Going off how the weather is here at the moment the chance of that increases.

 

As you obviously don't have access to the true facts it would be advisable for you to find something else to moan about - why not try the West Somerset or Peak Rail Action Group threads !

Bob.

 

Rather than moaning about what they perceive as wrong with the LR perhaps some of the detractors might like to actually become an active volunteer and 'get their hands dirty', as I know Bob does, several days a week.
Ray.

 

It seems that every railway has a difficult season every now and then where it struggles to maintain a steam service, due to a lower than usual fleet and a string of unlucky events. A few years ago it was the NYMR, then it was the WSR's turn, now Llangollen. I don't think it's particularly worthwhile dishing out criticism, the evidence suggests it happens everywhere from time to time.

 

And quite understandable, if as reported their engineering team is a 'little thin on the ground' when they have had a couple of the top engineers leave recently. These things happen, people move on, stuff wears out unexpectedly, brown stuff happens.

 

People do move on. Unfortunately like every other heritage railway engineering business, the wages aren’t all that competitive. The people who work there do it for the love of steam, whilst others do it then move on to something different. We have paid staff that have come from other heritage outfits so it’s not a new thing.