AleisterCrowley wrote:My local heritage railway (the SVR) has a speed limit along the whole track IIRC- 20mph?
Not sure if it's to protect the track, or because the coaches are slam door jobbies
tjh290633 wrote:I believe that all heritage lines are subject to a 20 mph speed limit. The locomotive at the other end is usually a precaution against failure of the elderly steam locomotive. I suspect that it was a diesel. With no facility to turn the Flying Scotsman at the end of the line, it is probably used to haul the return trip. It is possible that they have a turntable, but not large enough to handle a 4-6-2.
TJH
All preserved lines are subject to a 25mph limit.
Essentially, it's as they run under what used to be known as a light railway order (though I think it's now called something different now).
This means they don't need to comply with the current "big railway" regulations such as the in cab warning systems, central door locking, data logging etc, but it does limit the speed to 25mph to ensure safe operations.
The reason there was a (steam) loco on the rear was to speed up operations. The alternative would have been for Flying Scotsman to uncouple, shunt round to the back of the carriages and couple up again*, which takes time and I guess they wanted to run as many trains as possible. It costs a fortune for preserved lines to hire in locos, especially the "big stars" so they want to maximise revenue by allowing as many passengers as possible whilst it's there.
* It would run tender first, of course, but that's how most preserved lines work. Whilst many have turntables, almost none have one at each end of their line and generally the turntables are located near the engine sheds rather than being close to the stations. So turning locos to face chimney first is virtually never done as it would take too long and impact on the number of trains they could run.