Gauging method reduces railtour uncertainty
THOSE WHO of us are regulars on railtours will be all too aware of short-notice changes being made to tours in recent years because gauging issues have been found at the last minute.
However, that scenario should be one that – thankfully – won’t rear its ugly head again, thanks to a new process that Network Rail has introduced from this year.
Every steam locomotive that operates on the main line now has a gauging profile covering the country, after being scanned and drawn using software.
“We have gauged all of the steam locomotives that are in operation on the main line by class. We have then cleared them for the whole country, and we have assessed each locomotive for the whole of the country,” Ian Stone, customer relationships executive (charters) at Network Rail, told me. “It doesn’t mean every locomotive is cleared for the whole of the country, but we’ve highlighted the restrictions in terms of gauging. Each locomotive has a certificate that covers it for a whole year everywhere in the country.”
Previously, tours would be gauged on a case-by-case basis “with the gauging coming back with a ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ a few days beforehand”, Stone said. Under the new approach, situations when locomotives and/or routes had to be changed at the eleventh hour shouldn’t occur again.
Ian added: “If, in eight weeks’ time, you wanted to run a ‘Black Five’ between A and B, you would be able to look at the document and find out if the locomotive is gauge-cleared or not, or if there are restrictions – for instance, speed restrictions or a prohibit in one direction.”
‘Black Fives’ “have very few restrictions – it is probably the most gauge-friendly locomotive class out there today”, Stone said, while at the other end of the scale, ‘Castles’ and Flying Scotsman are
less gauge-friendly and, therefore, the list of restrictions and prohibits is that much longer.
“Once we have the documents, we give them to the operators, say ‘here they are, just go where it says you can go’. We issued these documents during March and April and the idea is that we will issue them again in January before the season starts because that gives certainty to the operators and promotors,” Stone added. “It’s close to the ideal and it is better than steam has ever had.”
Gauging, of course, is only part of the picture though – the other being Route
Availability. Just because the computer says a locomotive can fit on a specific route – for instance the ‘Heart of Wales’ line – it may be too heavy for the track, so the gauging certificate needs to be used in conjunction with the weight of a locomotive when considering motive power for trips. “A ‘Black Five’ is lovely because it is RA5 and it can go around most routes. When you start getting RA9 locomotives you might have a big, powerful locomotive but it might be subject to loads of restrictions and then it is not worth having the heavy locomotive because you can’t get a path,” Stone concluded.
A ‘BLACK FIVE’ IS LOVELY, BECUSE IT IS RA5 AND IT CAN GO AROUND MOST ROUTES Ian Stone
Clun Castle returns to steam in August
A MONTH later than originally planned owing to a superheater header leak (SR522), ‘Castle’ No. 7029 Clun Castle returned to the main line at the head of Vintage Trains’ Shakespeare Express trains on August 29.
The Swindon-built 4-6-0’s superheater header has a hole in it and the Tyseleybased operator has had to borrow fellow classmate No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe’s part, which pushes back the completion of the latter’s overhaul into next year, owing the lack of drawings, patterns and casts.
“We have to make a new one. It’s going to take a while. It won’t stop the reassembly of the loco, but clearly, we’re going to have to wait for new parts to be manufactured. There isn’t even a pattern and it is going to have to be made from scratch,” Michael Whitehouse, Vintage Trains’ chairman, said.
As such, No. 7029 will share haulage duties this year with guest locomotive ‘Princess Coronation’ No. 6233 Duchess of Sutherland, although as this issue of Steam Railway went to press, the Vintage Trains website had not been updated to reflect the change in motive power.
One other thing that is absent from the website is provisional departure and arrival timings, plus how long passengers may have at a destination, with the exception of ‘Shakespeare Expresses’, as the paths are in the working timetable.
Vintage Trains is the only tour promoter that does not give even an indication – all of the other promoters show approximate timings based on the times that have been requested from Network Rail, along with a caveat saying that things might change and that finalised times will be confirmed around a week before departure. I live in Devon, and at the moment, I have no idea if I need zero, one or two nights in a hotel in order to make any VT trip work. I could, of course, wait until the times trickle onto Realtime Trains a week or so beforehand, but then hotel prices are likely to be higher.
Defending the approach, Michael told me: “We could put timings on the website but it would be guesswork and they would be wrong. Nobody knows the timings until Network Rail issues them, so anyone who puts up provisional timings is guessing. Most of our trains leave between 0730 and 0800 and we will try and do our best but it has to be a guess.”
While regulars may know that trains may leave between half seven and eight in the morning, what about the members of the public who stumble across the webpage for the first time looking for a nice day out? How are they expected to know that? I asked several non-enthusiast friends whether they would book a trip without even an indication of (a) what time you’re likely to leave in the morning, (b) how long you’re likely to have at the destination and (c) what time you’re likely to be dropped off, and all of them said no they would not book without at least a vague idea. If the charter industry is to attract new people, it needs to make things as simple and as clear as possible, not create guessing games for passengers.
Farewell to railtour promoter legend Farrow
ON AUGUST 18, some 15 months after he passed away, the charter industry, regular
WE COULD PUT TIMINGS ON THE WEBSITE BUT IT WOULD BE GUESSWORK Michael Whitehouse
customers (and, er, moi) were finally able to convene and pay its respects to railtour promoter extraordinaire, John Farrow, who sadly succumbed to Covid-19 in April 2020.
The day was a fitting tribute to the founder of Hertfordshire Railtours and later UK Railtours, for the railtour – ‘The John Farrow Salute’ – ran from London Victoria to Sherborne and return, with ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35028 Clan Line at the helm throughout. Clan Line was one of John’s favourite locomotives and he had a soft spot for the former LSWR main line.
Sherborne was a regular destination for John’s trains, and his ashes lie at Sherborne Abbey, where a memorial service was held to honour him. The trip was also the first steam-hauled charter train organised by Liz Morris – John’s daughter – in her role as the company’s boss, and the firm couldn’t be in better hands. Clan Line, meanwhile, performed faultlessly throughout, and looked splendid all day on its home turf.
Main line continues to put smiles on faces
ON AUGUST 21, ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado ran from Glasgow Central to Aberdeen and return on Tornado Railtours’ ‘Clyde Aberdonian’ charter. It was a lovely day for a number of reasons, but without doubt the highlight was meeting four-yearold Matthew Morrison (pictured) on the morning of the trip.
The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words it is definitely true in this case. I understand this was trainmad Matthew’s first ever sight of a steam locomotive. I’m sure he won’t forget about his encounter with Tornado in a while, and I daresay it won’t be the last time he’ll see steam again. So many of us who are involved in the world of steam are involved because – myself included – we became smitten after chance encounters as children. This is also a great example main line steam doing what main line steam does best – drawing the crowds and creating memories that will last a lifetime, while in turn, creating a positive image for the railways in general.
Steam Dreams launches Christmas programme
STEAM DREAMS has launched its Christmas programme of trains, with four day trips running between the middle of November and start of December.
All of the day trips – which comprise tours to York, Bath, Lincoln and Oxford – are to be hauled by ‘A1’ No. 61063 Tornado, which somewhat dispels a myth that
I’ve been hearing more and more lately: that the Guildford-based promoter only uses ‘B1’ No. 61306 ‘Mayflower’ because the 1948-built machine happens to be owned by David Buck, who also runs Steam Dreams.
Perhaps the source of the myth lies in the fact that the ‘B1’ was seen going in and out of London Victoria several times every Tuesday this summer with the firm’s ‘Royal Windsor’ and ‘Sunset Steam Expresses’, but Buck pointed out to me that if you exclude those trips, half of all of Steam Dreams’ trips this year have been hauled by locomotives other than ‘Mayflower’.
Remember as well that Steam Dreams was the first promoter to have ‘Jubilee’ No. 45596 Bahamas out of London this summer, plus it was also the first company to use Swanage-based ‘U’ No. 31806 on a single-day railtour earlier this summer.
“‘Mayflower’ is a great reliable workhorse and it does the job well but we do use other engines,” Buck told me. “Wearing my ‘Mayflower’ hat, I’d like to use it as often as I can. Wearing my Steam Dreams hat I’ve got to use whatever locomotive is suitable, and wearing my enthusiast’s hat I love to see different engines, so we will continue to do that.” He added: “We use all engines which are appropriate. If we want to haul 11 passenger coaches we use a bigger locomotive, plus we like to use different locomotives to give everyone a chance to ride behind them.”