Brighton Atlantic: 32424 Beachy Head

Meanwhile, back at the plot: This photo of the inside motion just showed up on the Bluebell website, I think as a prelude to a website update in the near future. http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/b.../apics15/eccentricrods_fredb0875_19feb15h.jpg

The next Atlantic House open day is June 13/14, 10am to 4.30pm each day.

Tom

 

Stunning workmanship, a credit to the preservation movement .

 

OK, here's the official update, with lots of fascinating photos both between the frames, and of the splashers under construction.

http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/locos/atlantic/latest.html

Tom

 

Quick note that this weekend, 13/14 June will be an Open Day at Atlantic House. Come along and see latest progress

Details here: http://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/bluebell/locos/atlantic/open.html

Normal Service 2 timetable in operation, i.e. 7 round trips Saturday and 6 on Sunday.

Tom

 

Do you mean 13/15, i.e. including Monday?

 

No, sorry 13/14 i.e. Saturday and Sunday. Fat finger syndrome - I'll edit...

Tom

 

And BTW, where IS Atlantic House?

 

At Sheffield Park, in the loco yard. Walk to the end of the loco shed and it is across to the left-ish in front of you.

Tom

 

Here's a sneak peek!

 

Thats going to be one very good looking loco, what work , if any has been done on the boiler so far, i would assume its time spent as a stationary boiler hasnt meant that extra work, other than what would be expected has, or will be needed

 

The biggest single thing I think is that a superheater header has been made. The pattern, so I recall, will be suitable (with modification) for Bulleid pacifics as well.

Tom

 

I have to say as someone who's knowlage of the Southern and its consituents is very limited this seems a very handsome beast. Be very intrested to see it in action. Hats off to the Bluebell not one but two new builds under construction.

 

I Assume the boiler has been inspected and its known what needs attention with the bottom end now nearing completion i would assume that the boiler and Tender would be the next items in the programme

 

Yes, the condition is well known. There has been quite a lot of paperwork behind the scenes to re-establish provenance back to the LNER design, because there is doubt about the actual boiler number - as I recall, it is definitely one of two, but not definitively one specific number.

As for what's next - I haven't seen a definitive statement. <speculationAlert>Fabricating the tank may be quite hard in-house simply for space reasons, so it is the sort of job I can imagine being done externally</speculationAlert>. In the meantime, the tender under frame represents valuable storage space for smaller components and sales items! At some point there will also have to be some artful choreography with cranes as Atlantic House is effectively at right angles to the direction of the line, and the cranage in the building is not sufficient for the final assembly of underframe and boiler, nor tender underframe and body. So I'm envisaging that the last few months of the project will have to be in the main workshop, but that is still probably a few years away.

Tom

 

Beautiful work, and terrific bit of painting there. She's going to be fabulous when finished.

This is the beauty of new builds though - people like myself not born in the steam era will be able to sample a little of what it was like in the steam era. I personally have have never seen an atlantic of any form in steam in my lifetime. A shame with two GNR ones preserved.

 

I visited yesterday and was hugely impressed. Lots of large lumps of metal, all made into complicated shapes, fixed together and with gleaming paint. Meanwhile, although the boiler needs new innards, the basic shell looks almost like new. If someone had told me that Beachy Head will be ready to run within a few months I wouldn't have been surprised. But there are other projects that have looked nearly finished for years and still haven't quite got there.

I understand and accept that the present intention is for preserved line running only, but is there any overwhelming reason why Beachy Head couldn't go main line some time in the future, possibly with portable electronics such as are being developed at Didcot?

 

Whenever that question has been asked previously (often in the context of other locos, such as Sir Archie), the answer has always been that the railway has no intention of mainline running. I can't see it would be any different with Beachy Head.

Looking at the costs, it is not just the cost of equipment on the mainline loco itself. There is also the fact that, to maintain a fleet of adequate strength, you'd have to have cover whenever the mainline loco is way, so realistically you might need an extra loco permanently in traffic, which is extra maintenance resource. So I think if you really looked at the true costs, it would be very expensive and probably not worth the hire income - especially since, as a 4P, Beachy Head would be restricted to fairly limited loads on the mainline.

Tom

 

Heart says 'Wouldnt it be nice to do somthing on the mainline though even if its only just a one off' Head says those horrible four letters 'Cost'. As I've said before I don't really know much about the Southern I'm a big Ivatt, Stanier and Manor bloke steam wise but seeing photos of this really does get me genuinley excited. I'm really looking forward to see this in action, along with the Mid Hants I really need to pay a visit to the Bluebell. Then I really could see if the sun comes soonest in the south!

 

The dread words "Wouldn't it be nice"! I fear they usually mean someone else will meet the expense and do the work.

Tom has dealt with the issues here. As NP readers will know, my thoughts about this project can be summarised along the lines of "c'est magnifique mais ce n'est ce pas la chemin de fer" but it is the Bluebell people who are doing the work and meeting the expense; not the rest of us.

P.H.

 

I don't think PH needs to worry about the Atlantic being expensive to run. Given the view provided by Funnell of what's been done so far on this new build, it is going to look so good that no one should be allowed to bring any water, coal or even sweaty fingers anywhere near it. Instead, it will go in a very large glass case so that people can appreciate it like the work of art it will be. PH can then write out the cheque for the Bluebell to build another one to run on the line.

In seriousness, I'm really looking forward to seeing this 4-4-2. I've never seen one run before.