7027 Thornbury Castle

Indeed, GWSR have got 2 longer term projects only just begun at the moment in the form of 2874 and 76077, along with 3850 at the moment. Whilst I'd love to see a castle on our line, other than a guest for a gal I can't see it happening.

 

Both locos may of only cost a few thousand back in the 70s and 80s but that was a large amount of money back then.

Didn't PW say sometime ago 7027 could be purchased for a resonable amount if a buyer could convince him they wouldn't sell the loco on for a profit to another individual or group.

 

But what's included for the money? There may well be a fair amount of parts acquired/work done since the scrapyard not immediately apparent

(I don't know how much of either loco exists, though I have heard a wide range of figures for both)

 

Thing is what's a 'reasonable amount', I imagine that a group looking to buy her would need to get an idea before fund raising and PW is unlikely to take them seriously if they don't have something already set up (its all a bit chicken and egg). I assume despite the carcass that has gone to PR she is reasonably complete (although why the bogie has not been reinserted to provide some support seems odd?

 

(Smiley noted!) It's a matter of degree, but I see a big difference between scattering components to the four winds wherever someone needs some part or other, and merely separating the boiler and the rest, which happened repeatedly when these locos were in everyday service.

Edit: corrected typo "order" to "other".

 

It should be remember that 7027 is different from all the other preserved Castles, as she is member of the "5098 class". She has a three-row superheat boiler (the other Castles are all two or four-row superheat), single chimney and mechanical lubricator. 7029 has been modified with a four-row superheat boiler and a double chimney. I don't think there is any intention to cannibalise 7027 or convert the loco into a Star. Hopefully, one day she will be restored as the sole example of the " intermediate " form of the development of the Castle class.

 

Until someone makes an offer for the good boiler and nobody wants the rest, except the scrappie. I'm not suggesting PW would entertain such an offer but that is always a possibility for locos in this condition if the owners are no longer willing or able to pay storage charges.

 

Did 5029 end up with 7027s mechanical lubricator? I thought I had been told that when it had been fitted that's where the lubricator came from?

Chris

 

Sorry if I seem to be harping on, but of those three features the superheat obviously applies to the boiler (which has generally been regarded as an interchangeable component), this is not the only single-chimney preserved Castle, and mechanical lubricators are common enough in general even if not on Castles.

I am not saying that the boiler and the rest ought to be separated and used for different projects, but only that that would be one reasonable option, and better than leaving them to gather dust.

 

Can't see any evidence of that.

Its a matter of basic condition and usefulness of each loco looked at on its merits. Several ex Barry unrestored locos have recently changed hands for substantial sums - the purchasers no doubt having realised their future usefulness.

 

If Preservation is about telling the story of Railways, then 7027 is a vital step in the Castle Story. It is also one of the better known locos I believe having been a bit of a Worcester front line engine

 

Also spent it's final days at Reading where it was withdrawn from.

 

I'm surprised the GWSR haven't made a move for this locomotive with the locos on the line being owned by societies having a castle on there books would give them a proper flagship and an example of the best of the Great Western.

 

Yes but... The boiler certainly should be readily interchangeable with other Class HC boilers - except there aren't any. RCTS seems to suggest that once locomotives were fitted with HC (3 row) or HD (4 row superheat) boilers they didn't revert (unlike locomotives with increased superheat Std 1 boilers), so that does imply that there was enough difference in other hardware for the works to be disciplined about keeping them separate. And you wouldn't want to run the high superheat boiler without a mechanical lubricator - that would be asking for trouble.

 

was trying to keep my prejudice under wraps there.......

 

Thank you for some more cogent reasons for keeping the bits together.

 

These things have to be seen in perspective. Detail variations between different members of the same class are extremely common on the railways - we could never hope to preserve every last variant of everything. The "Castles" are a significant milestone in British locomotive development, and that's why 4073 is part of the National Collection. Really, any other Castles that the preservation movement can maintain are a bonus - and we are already quite spoiled for choice.

Not that I don't want 7027 to be restored, but if push comes to shove I think there are many other locos which are far more significant.

 

Castles are quite well represented in preservation, but not as well as some other classes. Also, there is only one steamable example at present. "When it's gone, it's gone", as the saying goes. If 7027 were used as a donor for a Star or cannibalised for spares ( although no-one has said that it is going to be), it would be the end of the intermediate variant of the Castles, the " 5098" class and that would be wrong.

 

AFAIK the GWSR doesn't make a habit of owning locos so it is more likely that 7027 would be owned by a group of (extremely wealthy) individuals rather than by the railway itself. However, Castles were daily fayre on the Honeybourne Line in late GWR days and in BR days so to have this locomotive on the books in working order at Toddington would be super. If the money keeps coming in at the rate it's coming in for the completion of the Broadway extension then it would not be impossible. However, there is so much infrastructure to fund (not to mention the replacement of the 2 signal boxes at Gotherington and Cheltenham Race Course which seem to upset some on this website - I told you not to mention those signal boxes!) that any surplus funding raised would be better spent on the GWSR real estate. Going back to 1990 and 5080 Defiant on the GWSR gives some idea of what might be again, who knows?

 

I'd settle for a cosmetic restoration. Stick it in Steam and get 2516 out and displayed at Didcot.. Nice to see Defiant as she should be