Snowdon Mountain Railway

[simond]

some of you may have seen this article, with some lovely photos.

Full steam ahead on the Snowdon Mountain Railway – in pictures

Guardian photographer Christopher Thomond bought a ticket for the first coal-fired steam service of the year on the peak known in Welsh as Yr Wyddfa

www.theguardian.com

Part way down the article is this caption "For safety reasons, the carriage is not coupled to the locomotive"

Does anyone know if it is true? It sounds very odd to me.

I can imagine that a non-technical person might have misunderstood "for safety reasons the loco is always downhill of the coach so if the coupling were to fail..." but that's not really the same thing at all.

cheers
Simon

 

[AJC]

It's certainly true, and that's the reason that the accident on the opening day wasn't more serious: the loco fell off and was destroyed, but the carriages stayed put. Gravity does the work normally and the loco acts as a brake while the carriages are braked separately and fail safe. Whether this is true of all Abt systems, I don't know, but the logic is sound, and reported by Revd Awdry, among others: Snowdon Mountain Railway - Wikipedia

Adam

 

[Clarence3815]

Matterhorn GotthardBahn, Brunig and Appenzellerbahn in Switzerland all use rack and all vehicles are coupled.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

The main difference is the Swiss railways mentioned above are 1m gauge or in the case of the Appenzellerbahn 1m, 1200mm and 1435mm gauge depending upon the line within the group. And built to mainline standards.

Brunig (including Luzern Stans Engelberg Bahn) - Riggenbach or von Roll Zahnstangensysteme
Matterhorn GotthardBahn - Abt Zahnstangensysteme
Appenzellerbahn - Riggenbach-Klose, von Roll or Strub Zahnstangensysteme (depending on the line within the group)

 

[David Waite]

Part way down the article is this caption "For safety reasons, the carriage is not coupled to the locomotive

cheers
Simon

That is very interesting so I wonder if the carriage has a brake hose connecting with the loco or dose the carriage just have a manual hand brake ?
I never knew the wheels on the axle that drive the cogged wheel are free to rotate on the axle and don’t help in anyway
towards the traction, never stop learning.
David

 

[Clarence3815]

Hand brake AND a member of staff rides in the carriage watching ahead ready to operate the brake.

 

[Mike Trice]

There is additional information on the SMR site:
"The original carriages were open above the waist and had canvas curtains, which provided little protection against the elements. Between 1951 and 1957, the superstructure of the original carriages was modified to produce the enclosed bodies. Each of these carriages had a capacity of 56 passengers, plus a guard. Every passenger carriage had its own set of pinions, with automatic brakes as an added precaution. If the train’s speed exceeded 7.5 mph for any reason, the brake came on."

 

[simond]

Thank you all. I did know (but had probably forgotten) that the loco carrying wheels did not drive, but I didn’t know about the coupling. Every day, as they say…

 

[bob savage]

Thank you all. I did know (but had probably forgotten) that the loco carrying wheels did not drive, but I didn’t know about the coupling. Every day, as they say…

Another worrying fact . The crews help do the maintenance of the locos through the winters. And tracks. All hands to the pumps. whilst the new mac Donald's on top was being built the masons had to walk up and down. (Relations worked there)

 

[simond]

Do they not still have the cafe with the “Snowden Oggie”? For thoss unfamiliar with the said treat, it’s a large pastie, about the size of a computer keyboard. When we had walked up, my lad & I shared one, as Mrs & Ms D looked superior and had salads.

We noted the calorific value of the Oggie exceeded, by a factor of ten if I recall correctly, the energy expended (1MJ) in lifting a 100kg body (mine) up a 1000m mountain.

 

[mth]

Do they not still have the cafe with the “Snowden Oggie”? For thoss unfamiliar with the said treat, it’s a large pastie, about the size of a computer keyboard. When we had walked up, my lad & I shared one, as Mrs & Ms D looked superior and had salads.

We noted the calorific value of the Oggie exceeded, by a factor of ten if I recall correctly, the energy expended (1MJ) in lifting a 100kg body (mine) up a 1000m mountain.

Don't know if they still do them, but last time I walked up Snowdon (pre-pandemic) they were what the doctor ordered to give you the strength to get back down.