Am I in the way ? Boadicea with 145 tons at the GDSF 2009

Lets set the scene, all activity in the heavy haulage ring at this years Great Dorset Steam Fair is brought to a stop by the sight and sound of the mighty 10hp McClaren road loco BOADICEA hauling approx 145 tons up and round the display ring, everyone (including enginemen ) watching in admiration including the crew of the road roller taking water on the left, when do you thing they will be aware that they are in the way of the unfolding spectacle, even as Boadicea bears down on them approaching the summit, hosepipe activities take preference over clearing the way, Boadicea is forced to stop and you can hear the crowds (and other enginemens ) displeasure. PS WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE GDSF FORUM ?

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Boadicea
• GDSF
• Clag
• Steam
• 35005
• Canadian
• Pacific

[fodenwagon]

Roller totally in the right, Mac in the wrong, if i was on the roller in would of gone and had a word! i dont care if they put on a good show there no need to shout and wave your hands and blow the whistle, its not the gentlemanly thing to do.

[redroller]

Roller boys did nothing wrong !!

Boadiceas crew could not steer , theres another clip on Youtube with boadicea pulling the same load which says the load was pushing it and they couldnt steer all that well, think the haulage section is going a bit daft in recent years , why do we need 1 engine on its knees pulling a load like that ? why did we need 5 engines up front when pulling the tank on the big trailer about ??

Roller boys did nowt wrong!!

[thecelticsteamer]

ye dont know what your talking about . that roller should have moved and if ye even knew how ta steer an engine ya would know how hard it is especially with a load . anyway a mclaren is de only engine that does a bit of work . de roller boys were in de wrong . boadicea was on a probably record breaking roll . MCLARENS are de only engine that does a bit of work.

[croc4x4]

That's why the tractor unit needs to be on the load, to keep control of it when it goes wrong. The driver in the unit never has to "help" the steamers tugging him about, honest.

[kerrstuartaxefireman]

Getting water is very important, so the roller is not in the wrong. having said that, you still have to admire the sound bodi was making

[teamfairview]

not be long till there is a major incident there

[hiyadroogs]

escortmad, - Strain on the barrel notwithstanding, pulling huge loads is exactly the purpose for which Boadicea was built. Besides which, this load & gradient is no challenge to Boadicea's maximum tractive effort anyway. I've seen her work much harder than this in 2nd gear up the hill, with a bulldozer & 3 traction engines in tow. No more than 1/3rd regulator in 1st gear is required here, the grip couldn't take any more. She's working compound too, working simple would nearly double the effort.

[hiyadroogs]

The reason Boadicea lost steering & traction, is because she was being asked to turn at too acute an angle with such an enormous weight on the drawbar. That's WHY she needed plenty of room at the summit to allow a much less acute radius. Perhaps the crew of Boady should have checked clearance before starting up the hill. Couldn't watering & re-coaling be done closer to the centre of the ring?

[escortmad79]

Bodi wasn't in control at all, the steering was too light on the front end hence the wheels facing left! It also gets wheelspin before it stops!

If that had been my Wallis parked getting water & I heard someone shout "Oi! Bloody roller, get out of the way!" I would promptly have wrapped the shovel around his head!!

It may look good Bodi pulling the big loads around on her own but it's putting a lot of strain on the barrell & could seriously end up going bang & that'd be the end of rallies!

[mf3946]

the roller were taking water a long time before bodi approached, so therefore if they were unable to steer properly then the load should not of been towed. Plus, if bodi had scratched my paintwork or new gears on the wallis they would hav a lot to answer for.