That doesn't work on the 1 in 36 of Dainton, where this gradient up to the top from Newton Abbot is immediately followed by the same down the other side to Totnes. It was actually a significant issue for the main train loco, let alone the pilot (who of course knew it all well), and was what led to bans on both the Britannias and West Country Pacifics, with long boilers. Even a King dropped water level in the glass several inches going over the top - you can work it out for yourself.
Regarding power from back in the train, this was a significant issue when the USA started to move to "distributed power" for mainstream haulage, as opposed to just pushing up a hill, with mid-train locos instead of them all at the front. When you have power from both ends here is a mid-point where the couplings change from tension (pulled from the front) to compression (pushed from the back). This moves back and forth along the train as relative speed, power and gradient change, and at first there were a whole range of broken couplings (and some railroads actually gave up) until the dynamic forces were understood and tamed. It took quite some years.
That reminds me of a short story I read in the Manchester Evening News as a teenager. I don't know whether it was entirely fictional or based on actual events - it sounds vaguely plausible but I have my doubts.
Thirty years ago, I heard a similar tale from a couple of old-hand Rose Grove drivers who had ended-up at Skipton through a series of redundancy moves via Blackburn and Bury. Apparently, when their lazy banking crew were on duty on the Copy Pit line, the crew on the train engine would p**s on the shovel and throw it into the fire on entering Towneley Tunnel on the Down, or Kitson Wood Tunnel on the Up. That usually ensured an increase in effort from the rear end!
Presumably that's why the ascent out of Weymouth to the Bincombe tunnel had a sand drag instead? How common was that?
I've heard the same story about Llangyfelach tunnel on the Swansea District line
And a similar story involving Bolton ...
Not sure I believe that tale - the small amount of urine on the shovel would be incredibly diluted (and burnt) by the smoke from the fire. It would never be noticed. Would need something much more noxious, like pig or chicken manure
Perhaps it was something else which is known for leaving a shovel hurriedly?
The final 5 seconds of this video, shows the steel coil train pulling away from the not coupled 37 bankers
Cheers
Lovely video, thanks!
Some great stories coming out here, and we've all worked with someone who doesn't pull their own weight.
Or push their own weight?
In the video all bankers seemed to display a tail lamp, although it looks like they were in different positions. See at 8:12, the further banker (the one that would have been next to the rear of the train) appears to have the lamp in a higher position than the nearer (rear) banker, whilst in all shots the train has the tail lamp on the kleft and the bankers have them on the right.
A fascinating and informative video - we are very lucky videos like this one are available to watch.
A vey beautiful and scenic photo, thanks.
Banking was quite a common thing - although the likes of Shap, Beattock and Lickey are well-known there were dozens of other locations where it happened.
AFAIK - not very common in the UK nowadays, even the Lickey banking is now done on an 'as required' basis rather than a banker being stationed there full time. I think the heavy biomass trains to Drax are banked out of the port (Seaforth?) due to the combination of gradient and curvature (which increases the rolling resistance), and the same for the heavy stone trains for a short distance out of Merehead. There is doubtless some other ad-hoc banking done at times.
After the Lickey, the South Devon banks between Newton Abbott and Plymouth (Dainton, Rattery and Hemerdon) are some of the worst mainline inclines in the UK because they are both steep (maximum of 1 in 36) and twisty. Long gone, but the line in north Devon between Barnstaple and Ilfracombe had 3 miles of 1 in 36 out of Ilfracombe and 6 miles of up to 1 in 40 northbound from Braunton. The Mersey Railway tunnel has 1 in 27 gradients. The Thameslink core has a section at 1 in 29. The long closed Hopton Incline on the Cromford and High Peak Railway was the steepest stretch of standard gauge adhesion-worked railway in the UK at 1 in 14.
If you open YouTube and search Lickey banking and Lickey Incline, you'll find a variety of video footage, old and current trains, with banking locomotive.
There were some unusual situations where banking assistance was required on a one-off basis - the movement of out-of-gauge loads, for example. I also recall tales of steam being used to bank emus on the Caterham and Tattenham Corner branches during the Big Freeze of 1963, but sadly I have no supporting evidence. Others may know more about this.
Also in North America:
(Pusher or Helper = banking engine, Yellow 'van' = caboose, CPR = Canadian Pacific Railway)
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That actually goes a long way back, to when Hymeks were bankers! The base at Bromsgrove was closed due to little use. Because the bank was just inside the Western Region boundary a banking loco, if required, then had to be sent all the way from Gloucester.
Cowlairs, out of Glasgow Queen Street High Level is 1 in 41 at its steepest and you are starting from a dead stop. It's not a problem for 385s or 2+4 and 2+5 HSTs, but laden DMUs aren't exactly romping up! Back in the days of 101s it was quite a drag.
There was actually a procedure in the days of 101s holding down all the local services to Falkirk Grahamston, Stirling, etc. If an inbound train had one engine out, this was advised forward, a loco was sent down from Eastfield to Queen Street, the dmu was called on into the same platform, and the loco banked the unit back up to the depot. And another dmu was sent down to an adjacent platform to continue the diagram.
