This might be a daft question

[Bittern]

But has there ever been a time when small derailment or some other issue on the main line that a preserved Steam loco has provided assistance? Maybe it was nearby on a RailTour or something?

Thanks.

 

[33056]

Tornado was hauling a tour last December when the train was used to convey some "normal" passengers who were stranded due to lack of their usual 3rd rail emus in the snow and ice, report here .

I also seem to recollect Leander rescuing a freight on the S&C in the late 1970s / early 1980s, perhaps somebody can remember the details.

 

[Aictos]

Tornado was hauling a tour last December when the train was used to convey some "normal" passengers who were stranded due to lack of their usual 3rd rail emus in the snow and ice, report here .

I also seem to recollect Leander rescuing a freight on the S&C in the late 1970s / early 1980s, perhaps somebody can remember the details.

Pity it wasn't used on Saturday then,

 

[12CSVT]

I think it was in 1979 when Leander rescued a failed class 40

 

[YorkshireBear]

a couple of weeks/months back on (i think) weymouth yeovil line FGW were screwed with train full after like two stops and railtour following was contacted as it was following same route and picked up passengers. Not what you asked but only one i can think of.

 

[scotsman]

An EWS loco failed (can't remember what it was hauling) failed just south of Aviemore a few years back, blocking the UP and DOWN lines. The Strathspey's 31 was in P3 and the driver contacted the signaller, offering to haul the train off the mainline. He was refused. The train was rescued a few hours by another EWS loco, later after hours of chaos on the mainline.

 

[Bittern]

Well that was a pretty daft move. Why not just allow the 31 to take the train off the mainline? Surely that would've saved a lot of trouble.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Well that was a pretty daft move. Why not just allow the 31 to take the train off the mainline? Surely that would've saved a lot of trouble.

Because of things called rules and regulations. You can't just drag a train off the NR mainline just because you feel like it.

 

[Bittern]

Aviemore's got bi-directional mainline platforms. I don't see why the 31 couldn't have been allowed to tow the failed train into one of the platforms, allowing passenger services to use the other platform. Unless, of course, the freight was too long and still overlapped the loop.

 

[scotsman]

Aviemore's got bi-directional mainline platforms. I don't see why the 31 couldn't have been allowed to tow the failed train into one of the platforms, allowing passenger services to use the other platform. Unless, of course, the freight was too long and still overlapped the loop.

The intention was to haul the train onto the Strathspey Railway. FYI, whenever trains run in/out of the Strathspey - they must be hauled out by a mainline loco or propelled by a Strathspey loco.