northern steam services break the final barrier
our slow, high-maintenance steam locomotives are sadly outclassed on the modern railway. if only there was a beleaguered scenic main line with suitable station intervals, where they could prove they still have a useful function…
It’s the final step. Steam-hauled service trains. Not a special, but a normal, everyday passenger train. Something you might catch not because it’s steam-hauled - but because you’re off to the shops, or to work, or to visit friends. Where a normal ticket is valid. It’s what separates ‘now’ from ‘then’. For while Britain has probably the biggest main line charter business on the planet, crossing the line into scheduled passenger services is something we’ve almost completely stayed away from (see panel). There are reasons, because here’s the bad news; the blunt reality that maybe none of us want to accept. Steam cannot hope to get close to most of today’s train services. They’re simply too quick, and too slick. There, I’ve said it. But it’s true. Today’s push-button trains run hundreds of miles without ‘servicing’, or even refuelling. Most of them accelerate and run at speeds that would have been exceptional in steam days (even the little Class 158 DMUs that rumble over secondary lines like the S&C can reach 90mph). They tend to brake more sharply too. Then, at the end of a run, the driver simply walks to the opposite end, and sets off the other way. It may be characterless; but it is fast, easy and efficient. Now let’s try replacing diesel with steam. Something big and quick, like a ‘Pacific’. Yet on a 125mph railway, even 75mph is woefully inadequate, so we look for somewhere less front line; but slower routes generally mean more station stops, and a high-stepping express engine is more longdistance runner than low-geared ‘Sprinter’.
Short range
However, unlike our unit sipping fuel from its generous tanks, we can manage maybe 70 miles without stopping for water. Going further means a lengthy pause by a hydrant or tanker, with all that entails for the timetable. Without water troughs (or a water carrier, which would add weight), we have a longdistance runner without range… Imagine we’ve made it work though, and eventually we reach the end of the run. If we’re not going just the one way, we now need to ‘prep’ the engine to head back. Perhaps our service has terminated somewhere with a triangle (possible) or turntable (unlikely) otherwise we’re now stuck with tender-first running at, say, 50mph. But turning takes time - and we need to think about coal too, and oiling round, and cleaning the fire. No. Much as we love it, steam can go less far, less fast, and less often than today’s trains. Even DMUs.
Good effort, modern railway. It shows confidence to make this happen and overcome the challenges
Yet these aren’t our only challenges. For we need somewhere to put the passengers. Mk 1s don’t cut it. Yes, they’re fine for charters - for which they have special ‘derogation’ - but they’re banned from regular services on grounds of crashworthiness. Instead, you need Mk 2s or later, and due to the 1999 Railway Act that means Central Door Locking, rather than the ‘stewards and door bolts’ system now in place on their older relatives. In itself, CDL is not a problem, as it runs on batteries and is worked by the guard. However, the very nature of these more recent coaches means they tend to be airconditioned and heated by electricity rather than steam. Unless you have a ‘genny’ van, that means taking a diesel along to provide the necessary power.
Heavy subject
Aside from any authenticity gaps, which might be a bit of a gricer-specific gripe, that raises a further practical issue: extra weight. A Class 67 pitches in at nigh-on 90 tons, a Class 47 even more; and the heavier the train, the worse (still) the acceleration… Which brings us to yet another interesting conundrum. Put steam on a service train and you’ll likely attract more people. After all, what’s the point if not to create interest? Yet extra passengers need greater space and more carriages mean… well, you know what they mean. A Mk 2 is the top-side of 30 tons. What then is the right number of coaches to replace even a two-car DMU? Extra passengers also create a further challenge, which can be schedule-eroding just like slow running: people take time to get on and off, and more of them means more time at stations. So if you’re really successful and attract lots of happy passengers, you may have another cause of delay. Especially if you’ve kept the train short, light and (fairly) zippy rather than long and more sluggish, but with more space and doors… So it’s not simple. In fact, put all these
things together and you’re looking for a run that’s fairly short, slow-ish by today’s measure but with not too many stops, and with a service ‘gappy’ enough that there’s time to lay over and ‘prep’. Ideally, it should be somewhere with turning - unless the speeds are low enough to go backwards. Even then, you may still need to breathe on the timetable. Plus… it needs a convincing reason to do all this. Otherwise, why bother? Which is what makes the moment we’re in so remarkable. For one of our most famous railways is suffering. Gouged in two by the huge landslide at Eden Brows near Armathwaite (SR451), the Settle-Carlisle hasn’t seen a through-train since last winter. Flying Scotsman was the last steam to run, on February 6 2016, just days before the slip.
Groundwork
Network Rail has been earthmoving - if not mountains, then a hillside - in a massive £23 million rebuilding project. The official reopening is on March 31 - and look out for a certain ‘A3’ then too (see separate story). Yet in the meantime passenger numbers have collapsed - at least one report suggests by between half and three-quarters. That hardly helps either the line, or communities that normally enjoy a flow of sightseers, walkers and enthusiasts. This is what makes it such a good chance: because the S&C needs help. Communities can benefit. And as we know, steam sells. What’s more, while there’s no turntable at the temporary northern terminus of Appleby, there is a water column - and the fact the line is severed as a through-route makes it more akin to a branch, albeit a pretty big one. There’s a mix of ‘stoppers’ and trains that call just at key points in a more steam-friendly fashion - and line speed is only 60mph. From Appleby northwards, it’s a bus. Even better, most of the key bits are still served. Ribblehead, Blea Moor, Ais Gill - all these are on the section that’s still open. What then could be better than a steamhauled service? As you’ll see in our news section, that now looks set to happen, with ‘semi-fasts’ to be hauled over three days in February (albeit with some timetable changes - which given all I’ve said above is perhaps no great surprise). Start point is - neatly - 56 miles from Appleby at Skipton; lead engine is ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado. It’ll be the first time anyone’s tried something like this since the West Highland line in 2001, but back then parallel buses were laid on. So it really is a first. Aside from the sheer sensation of this, by the way, there’s a dash of irony too. For it will actually be the first time the 2008-completed ‘A1’ has ever hauled a real, timetabled, public main line passenger train.
Steam effort
As I write, the last niggling details are still being ironed out. Yet that we’re even able to say seriously that it’s happening is only thanks to a remarkable collaboration: train operator Northern and NR, plus industry partners such as DB Cargo and DRS, with support from the A1 Trust, Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line, and both Steam Railway and our sister magazine RAIL. Let’s not forget just how significant all this is, five decades after ‘proper’ steam last ran over Ais Gill. So good effort, modern railway. It shows confidence and foresight to make this happen and overcome the challenges when the easiest thing would be just to run one of those efficient DMUs like normal. Yet easy is not always best, and this could be very special indeed.