From memory the turntable at St. Blazey was converted from vacuum to air pressure operation, (run from the locomotives brake pipe), because Diesel locos had to use it to get into the roundhouse stalls. However judging by the rusty rails and the problems they are having turning Clan Line, it hasn't had any maintenance in years. If a loco is balanced correctly even a 130 ton loco should need just two men to turn it !
They're going to need a bigger turntable! I believe some guys from the Bodmin and Wenford Railway went down there a few years back to get the turntable working again. First Great Western who own it wouldn't fork out for a restoration as they obviously don't need it anymore, but it would be nice if they had made a contribution for PR purposes!
Richard Helliwell When they tried turning DoS a while back they had an even tighter squeeze than this lol They had to cut the fence panels down because her air lines were gonna get caught in the fencing if they didn't lol
Henry Taysom To be honest. I'm not %100 sure what those cylinders are for but as the cylinders are inoperable/don't work my No1 guess is that they were used to power the turntable. Collecting the loco's vacuum airline up to the table through the tubing that it comes up to @ 1:18. Only other thing I can think they may be for is balance but as I say the cylinders were empty & were in no way connected to the loco after it got on the table. This is a link to a different vid I recorded of a Black V being turned on a table just off Yeovil Junction Station. The loco was hooked up this one so the train did all the hard work. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2mOT2vjJiJY.html
