The Strategic Steam Reserve

pauly · Post by **pauly** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 8:14 pm

http://www.willys-mb.co.uk/strategic-reserve.htm

SillyBilly · Post by **SillyBilly** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 8:56 pm

That's extremly interesting, such a shame they were cut up.

MuzTrem · Post by **MuzTrem** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:11 pm

It's not true...

laalratty · Post by **laalratty** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:19 pm

ermmm yeah looks a bit suspicious to me, there were plans for a "strategic reserve" but they came to nothing accoding to a short bit in Railway Magazine a few months back

SillyBilly · Post by **SillyBilly** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:30 pm

Oh well, nice story!

pauly · Post by **pauly** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:31 pm

well our governments pretty good at keeping stuff hidden

I personally believe it as it makes perfect sense to reserve some steamers in case of cold war

and if you look through the scraping list of BRs steamers you will find holes

Iv been interested in the TSR for years and awhile back I was talking to an elderly gentleman at the York model exhibition who used to be a trainspotter an dwas selling his old pics off his stall and he showed me a picture of a steam loco being towed by a Diesel
and the pic clearly shows the loco number plate but according to records the engine had been cut up 2 and half weeks previous
to the photo been taken

SillyBilly · Post by **SillyBilly** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:34 pm

The goverment is appauling at covering stuff up!!
They leave stuff on trains!!!!!!

pauly · Post by **pauly** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:36 pm

what about the stuff they haven't dropped the ball on?

we cant possibly know about it if they haven't and because we don't know about it we cant say if they have or not.

made-in-england · Post by **made-in-england** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:57 pm

There was a radio four programme about this a while ago and from memory they concluded its myth

MuzTrem · Post by **MuzTrem** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:07 pm

We've discussed this before on UKTrainsim, and I can't be bothered to type it all out again, so here's the copied-and-pasted post I made there...

You see, most of those specualting about its existence never actually bothered to ask the Ministry of Defence about it.

Back in 1979, Steam Railway did. And they were told by the MoD that there is (or at least, there was at the time) a strategic reserve...of diesels.

Now the existence of a diesel strategic reserve can explain any evidence of secret engine sheds. Then there are two other points to consider:

1. Very few steamers are unaccounted for in scrapping records of the 1960s - certainly not enough to run the entire national network. To take the aforementioned 9Fs as an example, only about five were unaccounted for in 1979.
2. SR also asked BR about the strategic reserve, and they made the very sensible point that if they might need to run steam in a time of crisis, they wouldn't have got rid of all the coaling and watering facilities.

Armed with this evidence, I think we can safely conclude that there is no steam strategic reserve, and there never was.

But, I'm sure the diesel fans can now have great fun specualting what types the MoD had hidden away in 1979...

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