I'm fairly new to your channel Tim, and I'm really enjoying your excellent filming and commentary. Your voice reminds me of a better time when people actually spoke properly! Wonderful work, Tim 😊
Absolutely ! My own thoughts too. The same may be said of the latest offering from Ivan Dutton's channel 'Shed Racing' which today features an old interview with the inimitable Rivers-Fletcher recounting some of his earliest Brooklands reminiscences.. How refreshing to listen to a pukka indigenous Englishman speaking pukka English : There was a time when a certain broadcasting corporation would only employ staff who spoke with similar crystal clarity .
Shocking to see 34067 without a tail lamp and with a white light on when being hauled back out of the station. This is a serious safety operating lapse.
So now WCR are down to one air braked steam loco south of Fort William for all their charter commitments ... they really planned ahead admirably, didn't they 😐
Hello Tim another spectacuiar collection from you . From what l hear on the grapevine Tangmere was taken off at Kirby Stephen with a damaged rod which does not look too good. Like you say the loco is being used a lot so lets hope both for West Coast and its customers it can be sorted out. Thanks for sharing. Brian
Thank you Brian. I'm afraid poor old Tangmere created a chaotic situation for the S&C line and a nightmare day out for her passengers. I've received an account from one of the passengers who is NOT a happy man.
Nice presentation - thank you. I did have visions of seeing Thomas coming into view and perhaps the Fat Controller on the platform, but perhaps that's me! Unfortunate about Tangmere, she's been working quite hard the last few months, but nothing more than she's been designed, serviced and maintained for. Sounded quite serious. Al.
I've received a number of reports from various sources - and they're all bad, I'm afraid. I also had a lengthy written report from a passenger with mobility problems - all I can say is that I'm glad I wasn't on that train.
Hi Tim yes Tangmere created quite a mess yesterday. I got a little bit of footage of her sat looking very sad in kirkby stephen sidings however the crew seemed to be in good spirits considering the situation they found themselves in. Yet another amazing video from you , thanks - Angus
I fear it may be some time before we see her back in action again. It's a good job the season is drawing to a close - WCR are going to be having difficulty finding motive power for the remaining charters.
I’m not a fan of modern traction footage, but enjoy your videos very much. They are greatly enhanced by your excellent narratives. Very much looking forward to more. Thank you.
Enjoyed the filming Sir, very well edited. Was on a train in the Carlisle area and passed Tangmere on the outskirts of Carlisle. Liked your narration of what was going on. Many thanks.
Seeing the modern LNER liveried train sets at Carlisle can make one believe they are in an alternate universe where nationalisation never happened and the LNER swallowed the LMS!
Nice filming at Carlisle as ever and a bonus with the three 66's. Good to see a steamer through Appleby. Wouldn't like to be a passenger on the return.🙄👍
One of the passengers put a detailed account of his return journey onto one of my earlier videos. Having read it I can only say that I'm glad I wasn't on that train.
An excellent film of a varied day's activity at Carlisle, definitely one of my favourite viewing stations since 1979! Your commentary certainly puts 'flesh on the bones' of the filming and your measured delivery is a delight to listen to - shades of Fyfe Robertson, dare I say!? Tangmere's failure is certainly a shame for all concerned - but she is a veteran locomotive these days and has some sterling performances behind her. Bulleid designed these excellent locos for less arduous Southern metals, where a 200 mile round trip to Bournemouth was the maximum, not 300+ miles over Shap, Tebay and Beattock on the WCML. Although this was a mechanical failure, I do sometimes question the driving style of some of those entrusted with our steam heritage. My grandfather was a driver at Glasgow Polmadie depot in 50/60s and even when long retired, would accompany me to see preserved steam in action. I remember he had some very caustic comments about smoke, cut off and steam wastage!
Thank you. In all fairness, we must remember that these WCR drivers handle a wide range of locomotives from all of the "big four" as well as a variety of diesel locos over an enormous route mileage - much more than your grandfather would ever have tackled. Having been a regular spotter in Darlington in the 1950s, their performances at Carlisle these days are far superior to what I saw on a daily basis from crews driving Gresley/Thompson/Peppercorn Pacifics which had all the maintenance facilities of a nationalised system behind them. Glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for your observations.
Your video a few weeks ago did not pick it up but Les commented on the rough sound of Tangmere arriving in Carlisle and before his comment I thought it did not sound well. Now I wonder if that was the start of an undetected problem. This sounds serious from your comments and could mean no more Tangmere for some time. Lucky for West Coast there are fewer charters towards the end of the year
If they don't stop running that locomotive and get it sorted I can see Networkrail stopping it for them. This is the second time at least in a single month it has broken down and caused utter chaos.
@@AndreiTupolev It needs properly sorting out. Behind it's failures is a complete evening of cancellations and chaos. The S&C is not a heritage line, it is a main North-South rail artery that carries people from Yorkshire and the Midlands to Scotland. WCR need to get that loco repaired properly before being allowed out again.
Hi Tim. Superbly shot and narrated. "Received Pronouciation" was clearly understood throughout the empire in "steam radio days" despite the vagaries of short wave reception. Now we have incoherent mumbling dialects to translate! May I ask what model camera/phone you use? Thank you David.
34067 definitely needs a break! UP Big Boy 4014 doesn't go out all the time hauling excursions on UP's subdivisions. Same goes for UP 844, the only steam locomotive that hasn't been retired by a Class 1 railroad.
Those Hitachis really look a mess when you can see all the clutter on the roof. The air resistance must add quite lot to the energy bill, and exposing the kit to the weather must come at a cost.
The only equipment on the roof is the usual pantograph and associated equipment (as on any emu or electric loco) and banks of braking resistors which need to be on the roof for maximum heat dissipation.
@@12crepello What about the aircon pods? And shouldn't the braking be regenerative? Resistance braking was used in the 1980s and the energy dissipated through the heating system for much of the year. The clutter still looks appalling.
@@physiocrat7143 The braking is only regenerative on electric power. On diesel the braking energy cannot be regenerated so it has to be dissipated in resistors on the roof.
It'll be good to get some footage of the manoeuvre if possible, to follow on from yesterday's dramatic events. From an account I received this morning, the passengers had something of a nightmare ordeal.
Tangmere obviously needs major attention, or major overhaul. To the casual observer, it appears WCR are trying to trash out the maximum from the loco before her boiler ticket runs out! I was on that awful excursion and we only found out later on that the Spam Can was failing left, right and centre recently. This was a disaster just waiting to happen. Before sending steam traction out on such demanding run, you need to make sure that it's fit to run. West Coast Railways are not doing their reputation any favours at all, especially after the central door locking dispute they have been having with their mark 1 coaching stock on the Jacobite railtours, plus a SPAD episode on that line recently also. They will lose their licence to operate if they don't watch out?
Very good video not so good about the steam train breaking down again and then problems with the diesel train at least the passengers got back to London even though the train was very delayed. Could the west coast railway not put another steam train on the route to Carlisle and get the one that keeps breaking down and get it fixed for next year that way it should be able to work properly next summer Tim
I agree that the BR liveries looked well - provided that the same livery was used throughout the train. A mix of old and more modern in one train clashes horribly.
aren’t these preserved locomotives pampered and caressed and better looked after than they were in BR service though, they’re also not worked to the extent that they were in service years ago either, so why these issues with the loco????
Tangmere is just two years younger than me - and although I'm still remarkably active, I don't think I'd fancy the sort of punishing schedule that poor machine has been subjected to recently.
In this day of plug and play and expectations of high availability we forget that these machines were a point in mechanical evolution that despite being more efficient and available than their predecessors, they still require more attention than their more recent replacements. Even the new build steamers with the latest tech and materials require a fair bit of maintenance which means scheduled down time to avoid unscheduled issues, which seem to plague Tangmere.
For much of September the route was closed between Sellafield and Millom to allow for re-surfacing of the Eskmeals viaduct just south of Ravenglass. Replacement buses were provided but the intervening stations are isolated and situated on difficult, narrow roads. However, the line re-opens tomorrow and I'm hoping for a trip down to the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. Hopefully some video will result.
No problem when steam trains and their obsolescence is realised, ITS SOMEWHAT SURPRISING THAT COAL AND WOOD ARENT TO PERMITTED TO HEAT HOMES BUT OK FOR THE DINOSAURS OF THE PAST. AS THE CURRENT ADMINSTRATION IS PRO UNION THE WAGES WILL RISE FASTER THFAN THE FARES TRAINS ARE NOT AN EFFICIENT FORM OF TRANSPORT FOR FREIGHT OR PASSENGER MOVEMENT.
Her fitness to run paperwork, no doubt. Me, my partner, (both mobility disabled) and son were on that abortion of an excursion. You can probably sense by my post I'm not very impressed. Sure, failures do happen, (but the class 47 being declared a failure also?). What?? Even that loco couldn't take us over the S&C to retrieve the day. The chaotic way we were handled and managed by the RTC fell well short of professional. We paid a pretty penny to travel First Class over the S&C line on this excursion, we were treated unprofessionally and we never even got a chance to see Tangmere because we were told to vacate the platforms quickly on arrival at Carlisle because the station was extras busy with LNER service trains through engineering work. We never saw the loco either at the start of S&C departure because it got hauled in backwards and we got herded quickly on board for a highly hasty departure. On limping back to Carlisle behind the "crocked" class 47, we hardly had enough time to get over to platform 4 to get upon the hastily arranged pendolino service train, back south. We paid First Class and got Third Class service. No Tangmere, No Settle to Carlisle run, complete and utter chaos by the charter company also. Disabled wheelchair passengers were not ensured that they, (or us) were safely aboard the service train by the charter staff and a poor young passenger assistance staff member was trying her level best to vainly get a wheelchair user aboard the service train whilst other passengers were barging their way to grab the diminishing number of seats on the service train preventing them and us getting on. It was shameful that we were had to fend for ourselves on the platform with no assistance from the charter company staff to help out. We discovered they got on the train okay to the detriment of us. An absolutely shameful display, dereliction of duty and a failure of duty of care. A massive failure. waste of time and money, with lousy service overall. An absolute nightmare and shambles..
The ever increasing numbers of steam trains breaking down on the main line, coupled with the resultant delays to 'regular' passengers due to the subsequent cancellations surely points to a day in the not too distant future where 'specials' are either banned or subjected to stringent conditions.
They already are. Daily Fit to Run inspection. Repaired to full main line spec. All it takes is a blocked oil line or something similar to fail a loco spectacularly. A failure of a modern train causes just as much delay so stop being so over dramatic.
@@gavinwhitelaw86 Dramatic? Don't make me laugh. What about those passengers on service trains who get their plans wrecked? If the companies who run these 'specials' had to pay the same delay costs that TOC's pay they would all be bust.
@@BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne how many hours of delay and disruption have been caused by steam trains compared with signalling difficulties, or problems with the overhead line equipment, or the Pendolino that broke down the other week and caused people to be 6 hours late?
@@AndreiTupolev What a ridiculous argument. Just because the 'normal' services suffer delays does not mean it is ok to add to the problem with unreliable kettles running around the network. Indeed it is all the more reason to *not* allow steam 'specials' as they make matters worse.
