Swanage Steam Gala March 2018

I hope all our paying visitors enjoyed the event despite the niggles. I know I did. With no visiting locos and WSR on the same weekend this was always going to be a low profile Gala for us. After the Bullied gala last year it was our turn to step out of the limelight.

You’re right that you can’t water a tender loco facing Swanage with a 5 set in the platform which is why we generally have them all facing Wareham. The problem with watering off stock is that the water facility in the Shed is slow both in terms of gall/second delivery and slow to recover the water levels in the tank. The additional movement also adds time and complexity so any margin to catch up time is eroded further. Add to this our turntable isn’t big enough to turn our tender locos without the fitters splitting the tender. They already had a lot on their plate getting the fleet available. Lastly when working back from river Frome the smaller engines are working quite hard with the 33 on the back as it weighs about two and a half extra coaches if it’s not pushing. If you are running backwards it’s easier because the water level comes back over the firebox as you crest the summit. Working the other way means you have to run the injector more whilst climbing the gradient pushing the boiler (or fireman) close to the limit of its capabilities. All of the above can affect the resilience of the timetable which as we know already lacked ‘make up’ space

A particular problem expirenced with this gala was that the diagrams were initially written with the antisapation that 257 squadron would be available. The extra loco would have sat In Corfe sidings and come on to the Swanage end of the C set which reversed at Corfe taking it back. Instead we had to run round taking longer and blocking the down road. Possible in time if everything goes right and everyone’s on the ball but there is no margin. In the event little things conspired to slow this down like difficult vac bags on the stock. Whilst this manoeuvre took place there was no clearing point to accept a down train coming over road at Norden or an up train from Harmans. By my reckonings Friday was not too bad and finished 15 down, Saturday 30 down but on Sunday this all just rippled out and built up.

As someone commented there is usually a good operational reason and we are always learning what works and what doesn’t. Trying to be innovative with gala timetabling carrys the risk of unforeseen issues but this was a fairly low profile event to try out a couple of new ideas. Integrating the extension in to the gala has been interesting and caused us to move away from the tried and tested template we were using a couple of years ago.

 

Good morning Mogul, very many thanks for this post, it does explain some of the considerations required when running an intensive service at Swanage.
I certainly enjoyed the gala; I found it really refreshing to have a more 'local' feel to the event and definitely enjoyed the more 'laid back' atmosphere although I'm sure everyone working during the gala wouldn't see it as anything less than a 'full on' event!
It was certainly a pleasure when both traveling and photting not to have trains 'full and standing' and to have more room than usual on the platforms - I just hope the railway turned a profit since that is really what is the reason for these events.
Thanks again to all for putting on a good show - very much appreciated. Andy

 

Having a turn back loco at Corfe would have made a big difference. We still had a good day travelling in eight trains and getting some nice shots. We never miss a Gala on this lovely Southern branch, one of the best recently being 28th December as the weather was perfect and the T9 faced Swanage. When will we see 34072 working?

 

Saturday was my first visit since 'Strictly Bulleid' last year and can only echo all of the above; it was certainly nice to see a 'local set' in the absence of a demonstration goods train.

 

As I understand it there is still a snagging list of jobs being worked jointly by both SSL and SR as other priorities permit. As the resource is split between two organisations and there is a volentery component it will be hard to predict.
If there is a target date I haven’t heard it and the fitters won’t want to advertise it until they are confident.
I would have thought that we would Ideally have aimed to have it available for the 2/3 train timetable at the end of this month if not May. It depends on how the rest of the fleet behaves.

Glad you enjoyed it Andy and your right, the Staff and Volunteers worked every bit as hard particularly as we are still building the loco fleet back up. Gala costs extended to the extra coal for having 4 in steam and the advertising so on paper didn’t need a big turnout to cover costs. It would always be our hope however to have as many visitors as possible.

 

The weather did not really aid photography very much over the three days.
This was SKP darkening the sky over Swanage on Sunday with the usual Bulleid departure slip.

 

Thanks for all the clarifications above. As I said in my original post, I'm sure there is an operational reason for how things are planned and it's always very much appreciated when someone in the know takes the time to provide an explanation of these considerations. It's always easy to sit back from the outside and say, they should do this and that, or wouldn't it be nice if, with the ignorance of not knowing what operational requirements and considerations need to be made. I'm as guilty as anyone for this but as an enthusiast there's always something you're hoping for.

I had a great weekend photing on the Friday and travelling all day on the trains on the Saturday, which included a great run behind the U from the river Frome back to Swanage. I really loved the local set and thought it really captured the atmosphere of how the line was once used. Well done all and thanks to all those involved for all the hard work. Looking forward to the Autumn

My shots from the event are now on my Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/themightykings/

DSC_0180 by Andrew King, on Flickr

 

Mogul, thanks as always for your insider knowledge.
I am confused however about the repositioning of the down home for Corfe.
I thought that it meant that locos can still run round at Corfe under the protection of the repositioned signal and still allow trains from Frome to enter the Norden gates/ Corfe section?

 

You are not alone!

One of the drivers for this was making Corfe up road fully bidirectional. Although it had a down starter for movements reversing in the up platform, down arrivals could only be signaled in to the up platform using the down home dummy in the cutting. This is an irregular movement for passenger stock and to improve flexibility and compliance in support of Wareham operations it was thought that separate main arms should be provided and appropriately locked. Sighting was an issue in the old location which is why the signal was so tall with a double acting arm. The move enabled the much shorter twin arm to be better sighted.

Speaking from the fireman’s side of the footplate we have yet to Operationally feel the advantage. I would need a signaling expert or at least someone with better understanding of clearing points etc to explain why this doesn’t allow a runaround whilst a down train is in section. It may be that some box special operating instruction amendments are pending.

 

Firstly, I am definitely not a signalling designer or technician, being a lever puller (or more accurately button pusher, since leaving the SR!) instead, but as Mogul has said the principal reason for the construction of the new Down Home signal at Corfe Castle is to allow 'proper' bi-directional running through the Up Loop using a main signal aspect, rather than a shunting signal. Given that obtaining an appropriate mechanical theatre indicator for the existing Down Home was about as likely as me being the next Pope, it was considered that a new bracket signal would be the most effective means of achieving this. In light of the need for a bracket signal, and the issues sighting the existing signal in the cutting, this brought about the need to reposition the signal 105 yards in rear of its previous location.

To prevent the need for run-round movements going all the way behind the new Down Home signal, a shunt signal was provided for such movements. This is a 'running shunt' signal which must be cleared before the Down Home can be cleared, however it is provided to ease such movements.

The Clearing Point at Corfe Castle for Down trains from Norden Gates is, and is likely to remain, the distance between the Down Home signal and the loop exit signals (either the Down Starter in the Down Loop, or the running shunt in the Down direction in the Up Loop), as detailed in SR NSKT Reg 4.1.4. While the Norden to Corfe section is an NSKT section, this clearing point distance accords with the requirements for a clearing point at a passing place for electric token block locations in the big, wide world. Basically, this distance must be clear, points set and locked and nothing allowed or accepted which may conflict with or foul this distance before the Down train can be accepted from Norden Gates. It was not planned as part of the scheme that amending this be even considered.

You may think that, however bear in mind that even though the signal has only been commissioned earlier this year, it has already seen use (and over the weekend just gone was timetabled to be used on 6 separate occasions). Even without including galas, where timetables are different from the norm, and times of perturbation where it allows greater flexibility, it will ease operation in the Peak season timetable.

For example, you will recall that in 2017 we introduced stabling the Corfe Castle rake of coaches in the Down platform rather than increasing the amount of shunting, time and risk involved by stabling the stock in the sidings; commissioning this new Down Home signal now enables that to take place on Friday and Saturday nights as well when the dining train is in operation, as the dining train can now simply be signalled in the Up platform in both directions in the proper manner. I suspect, like a lot of signalling installations on a compact, intensively used line such as Swanage, it will only be realised how restrictive it was beforehand when we look back and realise how many times we have actually used it.