Preservation Great Train Race

[tiger]

I went on the Great Train Race with, my 5 yr old son, in Sydney this year as depicted in the video on the OP's post, and have been on train races in previous years with my wife and our daughter when she was the same age.

 

It's a very engaging event which is lots of fun for everybody aboard both trains - young and old. It offers the unique experience to witness of parallel running of a working steam loco in a main line context. The drivers obviously ham-up the "race" element of the experience by allowing one train to pull ahead of the other, and then dropping back to allow the other train to "overtake"; this is repeated several times during the trip so that all passengers on both trains experience parallel run-pasts of the other train's locomotive a few times regardless of whether they are seated in a front, middle, or rear carriage.

 

The parallel running lasts from Sydney to Strathfield, a distance of about 15 km. Over that distance there are 6 tracks which are paired by use (i.e. up, down, up, down, up, down) - so there is one track between the two "racing" trains (no handshakes!). From a safety point of view, all carriages have stewards; leaning out of the windows (which can be opened widely, including the main saloon lights which can be raised several inches) is not permitted although it was permitted to have the windows open wide. The trains are run in top and tail mode with a diesel on the rear - at least one of which was a preserved diesel. Having passed through Strathfield non-stop, and the race "winner" declared, the train carries on for several more km to Clyde where the train reverses and is diesel-hauled back to Central.

 

The whole round trip takes about an hour which is more than enough time for the attention spans of a family with young children. Kids and adults alike love the "Race" factor with the adults also enjoying the spectacle of parallel running. 

 

The train race is held on a Saturday morning which marks the start of a 3-day "Sydney Transport Heritage" long weekend, with steam train return trips along the same route offered throughout the 3 days; there are usually other heritage trains on display in Central station (locos in steam, and preserved rolling stock) and preserved buses operating on loop route through the city. But the "Train Race" is only offered once, on the Saturday morning. I imagine that there is less traffic than usual on a Saturday morning compared to a weekday, which allows these two parallel special trains to be timetabled without jeopardising the running of other scheduled trains.

 

I'm sure something similar could be organised somewhere in the UK - it really is a fun event for everybody, including non-enthusiasts.

 

Cheers

 

Tom.

[faulcon1]

Well it would never be possible in the UK when there is no will to make it possible. It seem to me there is however a tender full of excuses as to why it's not possible.

[DavidB-AU]

The first Great Train Race in the Hunter Valley was 3801 against a Tiger Moth - the train won! Multiple trains weren't done until much later.

 

There is another type of Great Train Race that could be done, train v runners. Puffing Billy does one of these every year. The train has never won but it generates a huge amount of publicity and brings thousands of runners to compete.

 

There are a few preserved lines in the UK where a train v runners or train v bicycles event might be close.

 

Cheers

David

[LNERandBR]

Start a money raising campaign to get the GCR signalled for bi-directional running!

 

Then you'd have a stretch of standard gauge double track without the pathing constraints of the Mainline railway.

 

Admittedly, the GCR has plenty of other commitments for its funds and manpower.

 

On a smaller scale, hasn't thr RHDR done parallel runs?

[Invicta Informant]

4 hours ago, LNERandBR said:

On a smaller scale, hasn't thr RHDR done parallel runs?

Yes, the RH&DR has done parallel runs on numerous occasions, whether on Gala Weekends or End of Season Specials for the Association Members.

 

Here is Whillan Beck visiting from Ravenglass piloting a triple header in the 2019 May Gala Weekend.

[Steamport Southport]

On 09/12/2019 at 02:53, faulcon1 said:

Well it would never be possible in the UK when there is no will to make it possible. It seem to me there is however a tender full of excuses as to why it's not possible.

 

Good. And let's keep it that way.

 

Unless you want to personally pick up the bill when one throws a rod causing £100,000s worth of damage as I doubt "racing" would be covered by any insurance.

 

 

 

Jason

[jonhall]

It was done several years on the trot. LT's steam on the Met the train moves out towards Rickmansworth. Electrified high frequency urban railway. There aren't many places in the uk where there is spare capacity on a 4 track railway, not that it would be forbidden. I suspect the problem would be trespass from linesiders.

 

There are several locations in Germany where parallel running is fairly regular, on the Schwarzwaldbahn, the Tharandter Rampe outside Dresden, and Deutschen Dampflokomotiv Museum in Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg all organise a Parallelfarht when they can, and I've done it twice across the Gotthard approach ramps in Switzerland.

 

Jon

[DavidB-AU]

17 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

Unless you want to personally pick up the bill when one throws a rod causing £100,000s worth of damage as I doubt "racing" would be covered by any insurance.

 

How often does this happen on any locomotive at any speed?

 

Cheers

David

[Steamport Southport]

3 hours ago, DavidB-AU said:

 

How often does this happen on any locomotive at any speed?

 

Cheers

David

 

Tornado?

Blue Peter?

 

 

 

Jason

[LNERandBR]

On 11/12/2019 at 16:51, Steamport Southport said:

 

Tornado?

Blue Peter?

 

 

 

Jason

 

So two incidents in 25 years then.

 

Not exactly a common occurrence.

[JeremyC]

On 10/12/2019 at 20:00, Steamport Southport said:

 

Good. And let's keep it that way.

 

Unless you want to personally pick up the bill when one throws a rod causing £100,000s worth of damage as I doubt "racing" would be covered by any insurance.

 

 

 

Jason

But really no one is really advocating racing in the true sense, they're really talking about parallel running.

If there was a will there would be a way, but Britain is a can't do society.

[DavidB-AU]

11 hours ago, JeremyC said:

If there was a will there would be a way, but Britain is a can't do society.

 

Elf and safety gone mad!

 

Meanwhile 30 years ago...

 

 

Edited December 16, 2019 by DavidB-AU

[jukebox]

1 hour ago, DavidB-AU said:

 

Elf and safety gone mad!

 

Meanwhile 30 years ago...

 

 

 

Bl**dy colonials and their larrikin ways.

 

Lucky FS even made it back home in one piece, eh?

 

 

 

 

 

[Tim Hall]

On 10/12/2019 at 14:03, LNERandBR said:

Start a money raising campaign to get the GCR signalled for bi-directional running!

 

Then you'd have a stretch of standard gauge double track without the pathing constraints of the Mainline railway.

 

Admittedly, the GCR has plenty of other commitments for its funds and manpower.

 

On a smaller scale, hasn't thr RHDR done parallel runs?

RHDR regularly do a parallel run during Galas. Here's my view of Hercules, Samson and Sir Winston Churchill from behind The Bug in October 2018:

 

 

[faulcon1]

On 11/12/2019 at 07:00, Steamport Southport said:

 

Good. And let's keep it that way.

 

Unless you want to personally pick up the bill when one throws a rod causing £100,000s worth of damage as I doubt "racing" would be covered by any insurance.

 

 

 

Jason

Oh dear someones nose is slightly out of joint isn't it. It's called a race but it isn't. It's just parallel running. The steam locos have to observe all speed limits and signals. In no way is it an "open the regulator and go hell for leather". They're too old and valuable for that.

[faulcon1]

On 16/12/2019 at 17:50, jukebox said:

 

Bl**dy colonials and their larrikin ways.

 

Lucky FS even made it back home in one piece, eh?

 

 

 

 

 

At Seymour in Victoria there were/are two tracks of different gauges side by side. Steam Railway magazine at the time published a photo of Flying Scotsman with the caption underneath that the Australians had converted her to broad gauge or 5'3". OMG what a storm that created and we Aussies laughed our heads off.

[DavidB-AU]

12 hours ago, faulcon1 said:

At Seymour in Victoria there were/are two tracks of different gauges side by side. Steam Railway magazine at the time published a photo of Flying Scotsman with the caption underneath that the Australians had converted her to broad gauge or 5'3". OMG what a storm that created and we Aussies laughed our heads off.

 

There was, at the time, 300km of parallel broad and standard gauge from West Footscray to Albury (broad gauge now only goes as far as Mangalore).

 

This was the source of the April Fool's Day joke in 1989. It only ran for a short distance on dual gauge track at Dynon.

 

 

[faulcon1]

When Pete Waterman own 4472 he changed it's livery to the proper shade of BR green as he reasoned that the loco had never been in the condition it was in apple green. He got deluged in hate mail and from Vicars of all people. One chap accused him of nicking the real Flying Scotsman and putting an imposter in it's place.

The Steam Railway photo was of 4472 on standard gauge track but with the broad gauge track next to it hence the joke of being converted to broad gauge. I can also remember when 4-4-0 City of Truro was repainted BR mixed traffic black on the drivers side of the loco at the Seven Valley Railway and that was done as a joke and some people went completely potty.

I'd like to see a 9F in BR blue livery. Not the BR blue livery that 6023 wears but the BR blue of the 1970's complete with yellow buffer beams and large arrows of indecision on the tender.