The Vale of Rheidol Railway - News

Sorry to be pedantic, but it's an NGG13 not an NGG16 - there is a difference between the two in, amongst other things, the inner carrying wheelset configuration.
For one I'd like to see a reciprocal arrangement where a VoR 2-6-2T visits Rheilffordd Eryri, as Mountaineer and Palmerston have both been for visits to Aberystwyth.
Margaret was a good start for Hunslet 125...........

 

What I'm waiting to see is whether Aber can resist adding GW brass boiler fittings, cast cabside plates and copper chimney cap to No.60 .... you know ..... trad Swindon-fashion.

 

May be competely unrelated but this is the only Vale of Rheidol thread I could find.
I travelled on the line for the first time this week and noticed that before departure a guard went and locked every door with a carriage key, so we couldnt get off at any of the intermediate stations. On top of this Id say its a bit dangerous to go through and lock all the doors? What if a fire broke out in a carriage - unlikely circumstance but all the passengers would be trapped essentially...
Just think this arrangement should be reviewed as its in my opinion completely wrong to do this and Ive never before come across it on a heritage line, aside from maybe one door being locked due to short platforms.

 

agree re locked carriages, I was there this week and it was shut (still I guess).

 

Article in The Cambrian News yesterday:

http://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/arti...ildfire damage&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2018


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Dunno about these days, but the Ffestiniog certainly used to do the same when I was there.

 

Did the Welsh Highland the other day and they didn't so Id imagine the Ffestiniog dont

 

the FR do

 

All outward opening doors on the FR are locked and unlocked by the guard. This is due to the extremely limited clearances. Inward opening doors are not. I'm not sure what the situation is on the VofR.

Tim

 

Even so, on the FR you have corridor connected carriages so in the event of emergency you can move down the train away from say a fire, on the VofR, this isnt possible so if a coach was set alight, passengers would be trapped with no means of escape, surely this is a breach of health and safety?

 

Not in a 'bug-box' you can't!

 

Nor in any of the other non-corridor stock!

I don't have any knowledge of the VOR, but I know the FR and WHR and yes, all outward opening doors are locked. This is a safety-driven issue as clearances are extremely tight. It is not just done at the whim of the railway company, it is a requirement, I understand, of the regulatory bodies for safety reasons - and has been for many decades (or even a century?). The thought of a door coming open and it's leading edge hitting a mountain at 20mph, with a sheer drop into the valley on the other side doesn't bear thinking about. Even if the train remained on the track, the shower of wood splinters, glass, etc entering a full carriage would be "unpleasant" at the least.

I can't remember - does the Tal-y-llyn lock doors as well?

Steve B

 

No, but when the line was built the Inspecting Officer criticised the clearances under the over bridges, which the railway countered by sealing up the south side (non-platform) doors.
The Inspecting Officer also recommended slewing the track under the bridges to gain more clearance on the north side. This never happened - if you look at the track under the arches it is, and always has been, plumb "dead centre".

The FR has always locked outward opening doors due to restricted clearances.

 

This would have been risk assessed to within an inch of it's life, I wouldn't worry too much

 

Boyd (Festiniog Railway Vol.1) mentioned a fatal accident which occured in May 1926 to a special breakdown train running during hours of darkness, when foreman fitter Hugh Hughes, thinking the train had cleared the crossing into Penrhyn, opened a door, fell and subsequently died from his injuries. This was over a decade before the crossing was reconstructed to it's familiar form to improve the approach for road users.

I can't remember whether the TR practices door locking (the deep seat cushions in the ex-GVT stock back then certainly didn't encourage even standing up too quickly!), but do recall a particularly enjoyable trip on ex-Corris saloon 17, travelling from Pendre to Abergynolwyn on the open step. It was just too hot inside the carriage that day. If I get the chance, I look forward to sampling the clerestory version on the Corris for comparative purposes (the two original clerestories were apparently created in order to improve ventilation), but I doubt travelling with one's feet outside the carriage would find too much favour these days.

I wonder .... can the chimps at Whipsnade ever get close enough to the train to open carriage doors?

 

The train doesn't go anywhere near the chimps. It goes past the elephants and rhinos and through the deer park. And they don't have opposible thumbs...

 

Exactly.
The risk of someone accidentally or foolishly opening a door where it isn't safe to do so must be much more probable than the risk of rapid fire necessitating evacuation. Don't forget, doors on all national network services are locked too, albeit with remote locking/unlocking by the driver/guard and emergency overrides for escape purposes.
If you want to get out an an intermediate station, just tell the guard and they will let you out.

 

After travelling on the FR last week, the practice for passengers to request stops is to travel in the coach adjacent to the service vehicle/buffet/guards area. Certainly Plas Halt and Boston Lodge have 8/9/10 car stop marks for the footplate crew to stop with the rear of the train on the platforms. The inwards opening doors were not locked.

Cheers, Neil

 

.... yet!

 

Worth a quick scroll down ...... and it's not all about VoR locos either. (No login needed)
https://m.facebook.com/rheidolrailway