Locomotives are machines, not museum pieces
Your editorial in SR525 makes the point that the age of a steam locomotive is relevant in how long it should continue to run. I completely disagree with this as I believe that they can and are being kept running indefinitely.
Flying Scotsman should be pounding away at 75mph, providing that it is mechanically fit and complies with all the requirements of the main line railway. The fact that it has been kept going for almost 100 years is evidence that, with extensive overhauls, locomotives will run indefinitely. Dolgoch on the Talyllyn Railway has been running or under overhaul since 1866, and there are no parts on it that cannot be replaced.
Steam locomotives are a bit different to a 15-year-old Ford Focus in which few people are interested, and which contains technology (such as electronics) which will rapidly become obsolete. The locomotives are mainly mechanical machines and can be completely rebuilt with repaired or new components. The building of Tornado has shown that it is possible (finances permitting) to construct all the major components, while No. 4561 at West Somerset is being re-framed.
“At which point do we say ‘stop’?” is a question only for locomotive owners and probably a decision made on financial, rather than engineering, grounds. I’m sure that someone will come along in the future and want to get ‘A4’ No. 60009 running again. You cannot say with confidence that it will never run again. ‘Number Nine’s’ current owner has called it a day after successfully running it for everyone’s benefit for many years and, with all due respect to Mr Cameron, the key word there is ‘current’.
Modern manufacturing techniques, such as the use of polystyrene patterns or laser-cutting more than compensate for the perceived ‘loss of the old skills’. Young people are working on maintaining and overhauling main line steam and the apprenticeships of the 1980s and 1990s have resulted in experienced fitters who are training the next generation. As the world’s most famous steam locomotive, I cannot ever see ‘Scotsman’ being finally put to bed. We all thought that No. 925 Cheltenham would never steam again, but after 30 years in the NRM, the Mid-Hants returned it to steam. The same applies to the ‘T3’ that the Swanage boys and the Flour Mill are turning around.
The cost of overhauls is probably proportional to mechanical wear and mileage, so once a major renewal is undertaken the subsequent repairs are likely to be lighter. ‘Scotsman’ has hit the headlines in recent years regarding the amount of money that has been spent on it, but look at the mileage that it must have run. It has been either running or under repair virtually since it was built, and that includes tours around America and Australia. Yes, it has exceeded its design life which was only intended to be around 30-40 years.
I’m keen that locomotives should be viewed as what they are: machines; not rare china tea sets or works of art. They are just an assembly of mechanical components. No doubt the best assembly ever created by man though!
Thanks for a great magazine.
Chris Smith B Eng., Talyllyn Railway engineering manager, A1 Steam Trust support crew, Mid-Hants volunteer
THEY ARE JUST AN ASSEMBLY OF MECHANICAL COMPONENTS
‘Dub Dees’ cabside figure – why O why?
The illustrations used in the excellent article on the dying days of the WDs (SR526) raised interesting questions and caused me to search all my Ian Allan ABCs and reference books of the era to no avail. Remarkably, four of the seven locomotives depicted have a strange figure ‘O’ below the cabside number, and I can’t ever recall seeing that before (and I was familiar with Woodford Halse and the GC’s allocation) and can find no other pictures.
Can someone elucidate? Trevor Warner, Llandecwyn, Gwynedd
Author and ex-WD fireman Dave Wilson says: “There was a short-lived bonus scheme intended to speed up the movement of coal trains in the district. The ‘O’ was to indicate to the signalman that the train was a bonus working and would run at the highest permissible speed. This, in theory, meant that the signalman would give the engine the road when, on another occasion, he might have looped the train to allow a passenger turn to pass.
“When I was at Wakefield, the bonus scheme had been abandoned and I personally never worked a bonus duty.” Hope this helps - Ed.
‘Dub Dees’ were rough but good
Dave Wilson’s ‘Dub Dees’ article was interesting. I remember them well; they could be a bit rough-riding, but they were good-steaming engines. I remember one at Royston Loco that was fitted with steam heating – 90127 comes to mind but I might be corrected on that.
One day, a Banbury 84C ‘WD’ came on shed and it only had one gauge glass, which was a novelty to us as all our engines had two gauge glasses, but I later found out GWR engines only had one gauge glass. I remember dropping down through Ashchurch with a coal train with a WD; I had been firing her with a thin fire and the steam pressure needle was over on the mark and the water was dancing about in the top of the gauge glass. When I looked in the firebox, the fire was going grey, so a couple or so shovelfuls of coal brought it back to life.
If you wanted a good, fast, smooth-running steam engine, the Western ‘28/38XXs’ were up there with the best, if not better, not to forget the ‘9Fs’. The end of steam came fast. My last steam firing turn was on July 8 1967 with driver F.E. Pearce on No. 35023 with the last steam-hauled ‘Channel Island Express’ from
Southampton to Waterloo. How I wish those days could have lasted forever.
Keith Bannister, ex-55D, 85B and 70D, by email
Health and safety overload warning
May I take issue with you about the caption to the photo on page 76 of SR525? Far from having “no regard for health and safety”, the people shown have assessed the dangers of what they were doing and made a rational decision based on that assessment. You must remember that, in those days, people were expected to take some responsibility for their actions and didn’t expect to be guarded against any and every possible imaginable danger. The fact that no mishap or injury (apparently) occurred indicates that the individuals’ assessments were correct.
I suggest that the modern practice leads to the danger because people expect to be warned about, and protected against, every risk and therefore assume that, if there is no warning, then everything is safe. Obviously, railways (and other activities) must reduce or remove clearly unsafe practices – such as riding on brake-sticks in shunting yards – but it must be counterproductive to undermine the need for everyone to take responsibility for their own actions.
Thank you for a great magazine, and congratulations on the quality of what you have produced during lockdown and since.
Ian R. Cartwright, Aylsham, Norfolk
Trangkil memories
I was fascinated to read the article ‘Last of the Many’.
In June/July of 1971, I was moved from Soho Foundry
Smethwick – headquarters of W&T Avery’s material Testing Machine Division – to join its sister company, Samuel Dennison, of Moor Road, Hunslet, Leeds. The best way to get into Leeds city centre at lunchtime was via Jack Lane. Imagine my surprise one day when my way was blocked by a small steam engine crossing the road. ‘Crikey,’ I thought, ‘they really are behind the times up in t’north!’. According to your article, if Trangkil No. 4 was not outshopped until November 1971, the engine I saw may have been ‘Trangkil’ undergoing light running tests. Maybe not, but I have always liked to believe it was.
Earlier this year, after many Covid cancellations, I managed to catch up with Trangkil No. 4 at Statfold Barn after a 50-year wait. Malcolm Harwood, by email
Ed: The engine you saw would indeed have been Trangkil
No. 4 during its test runs. It was finished in around late October/early November, so you saw it around that time.
Keeping in touch
I would just like to share how much this magazine can mean to a grandad and grandson relationship. We both have a subscription and every month we spend an evening on the phone together working through the crossword and solving it. Usually, it’s my grandad who has the most correct answers, but I can get a few and for the ones I don’t, he gives me clues until I work it out. We both look forward to the call every month; it’s a good excuse for a nice long chat and we can spend hours in conversation about the history and preservation of railways.
It means a lot to us both to be able to connect the way we do thanks to your magazine. Rob Taylor, by email