steam to take over the national network ?..........

davvydo · Post by **davvydo** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 11:19 pm

is it true that there are secret steam locos stashed inside hills by the army
and used in case there is a petrol crisis, i heared that a great amount of to-be-scrapped locos disappeared and not marked down in a log book that they have been scrapped,

apparently they are duchesses, and 9F's plus many classes of locos thought to be scrapped and none survived into the preservation era.

when people say this in books that there are no survivors of e.g. the granges, i never believe them.

-------------------------------------------------------

before i forget, i am not breaching any secret codes here, i hear lots of people know about it and the steam locos are stored in boxhill as one of the posts,

jbilton · Post by **jbilton** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 11:45 pm

Nah...that was just "Henry" who was bricked up in a tunnel....

Cheers
Jon

Ps It would more likely be a 'coal crisis' these days...we hardly produce any of our own

davvydo · Post by **davvydo** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 11:55 pm

it was either something to do with a nuclear war or a fuel shortage

jbilton · Post by **jbilton** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:01 am

Its a nice story...to be told round the braizer..over a few wets....but if you think about it...it don't really hold water...a bit like the boilers and tenders wouldn't ...after 40 years.
Mind you it is one of the reasons East Germany kept theirs for a long time.
Cheers
Jon

spartacus · Post by **spartacus** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 8:22 am

I expect there were a few put into strategic storage for a while, although I doubt if any pre nationalisation locos would have been, except for the odd shunter. Mainly locos which had very short lifespans like 9Fs, I expect.

I seriously doubt there are any still in existence, although new boilers etc could always have been built in the meantime, the number of running preserved locos probably more than equals any reserves which were kept.

If there ever was some great national emergency which required the use of steam locos I doubt they'd be too bothered about main line certification.

I think the joint reasons were a major oil crisis, not just price increases, when Britain could be cut off from all supplies before the discovery of North Sea oil, and that in the event of a nuclear attack (presumably small enough not do wipe out the country), all electronic devices would be rendered useless, which would take out all electrics and 99.9% of diesels, since even hydraulics + mechanicals usually have some form of electrical circuit boards.

slipdigby · Post by **slipdigby** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 10:19 am

<uk.railway>

Don't mention the S*****c R*****e!!!!

</uk.railway>

Riche · Post by **Riche** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 10:45 am

Oh no, not that old chesnut again.

Cue the conspiracy theories, I've got the popcorn ready.

baggy6233 · Post by **baggy6233** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 10:54 am

The story about steamers being stored in tunnels incase of failiors is an old story, I read it in a book called 'Railway Ghosts & Phantoms' and that's about 10 or so years old. They've probably been scrapped by now.

johndibben · Post by **johndibben** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:22 am

It's all true and they're stored with a fleet of assorted flying saucers in old loco' yards around the country.

Ever seen a flying saucer in EWS livery?

Riche · Post by **Riche** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:41 am

Sure, you see a lot of the ugly things in Ipswich yard.

They are of UFO Type 66

I have also seen a dusty bin in FGE, NSE, 'one', WYPTE, Silverlink, Stansted Skytrain and SPTE liveries.

(See if anyone can figure out what the last one means)

Christopher125 · Post by **Christopher125** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:49 am

Hi

One of the most obvious reasons for there being no secret stash is that the army etc have never shown any interest in having loco drivers able to drive steam, and having 100 steam locos with no one to drive them would be pointless to the extreme. Plus, British Railways wouldn't have been allowed to get rid of the all of the water towers etc, which was done at the time in great haste to stop steam being used again.

Chris

spartacus · Post by **spartacus** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:08 pm

But there'd be nothing stopping the authorities converting a few vehicles into water carriers. Something the size of a TEA would be able to carry plenty, so, excuse the pun, the 'no watertowers' arguement doesn't hold water!

I expect some were kept, but for no more than 10 or 15 years, so type knowledge wouldn't have been much problem, and sending a few people on steam experience, or infiltrating preservation groups could have been considered, although when you look at the number of ex-BR steam drivers about today they'd probably have had enough 'in the ranks' 25/30 years ago. Not forgetting that the army did have their own coarses for steam training, for operating railways abroad in times of crisis.

BR7MT · Post by **BR7MT** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:34 pm

There's more chance of finding engines under Doncaster works than there is of there being a Strategic Reserve.

Incidently when the Doncaster works site is de-contaminated for housing they will have to dig out everything 40 ft deep due to the leaching effect of asbestos and heavy oils. If there is anything there they will find it!

Dan

buffy500 · Post by **buffy500** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:35 pm

Riche wrote:SPTE liveries.

(See if anyone can figure out what the last one means)

Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive.

rwaceyw · Post by **rwaceyw** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 1:14 pm

Christopher125 wrote:Hi

One of the most obvious reasons for there being no secret stash is that the army etc have never shown any interest in having loco drivers able to drive steam, and having 100 steam locos with no one to drive them would be pointless to the extreme. Plus, British Railways wouldn't have been allowed to get rid of the all of the water towers etc, which was done at the time in great haste to stop steam being used again.

Chris

You'd be quite surpised. 92220 was overhauled at an MOD site, and some of the army where trained to drive her.....

Still, a load of cobblers!

David