MHR Restorations and Overhauls

Evening all. wagon group web site now updated, it looks as though staff were on Christmas holiday until today.
Kind regards

Chris.

 

Has anyone on here been a member of the facebook site set up by John Graham ( pol steam) i have just left it, it in my view does great dis service to the railway and those who worked so hard to set it up you might as well call it the "JB is Satan" site, as every thing seems to be turned to we hold the blame at his door, i came away with the feeling that those who set it u have a massive chip on their shoulders, and that everything the railway has done, in their eyes is wrong, wrong, footbridges, wrong water crane, wrong extension to Alresford's building, the railway has improoved over the years, but the voluenteers get no praise, the management are painted to be weak, some very bitter people who can't let go of the past, JB only did what he did because those who now shout the loudest gave in, when he left they could have come back, but didnt, others did , and are now in positions where they can ensure there is fairness, as oppossed to spreading their version of history. and woe beside anyone who questions their version of the truth,

 

Martin - firstly in answer to your opening question, "has any on here been a member of the Facebook site ...", then for me at least the answer is no, so I don't know what exactly is being discussed on that group.

That said - if what is being discussed is genuinely doing the railway a disservice, I'm not sure what exactly you hope to gain by having a second discussion about it here? If you think it is genuinely going beyond the realms of fair comment, then wouldn't the best course be to raise your concern privately with the MHR management, to see if they have any means to monitor or moderate the content, or otherwise act to protect the railway's interest? Having a discussion here about another group having a discussion of decades-old events would just seem to run the risk of achieving very little except to bring whatever it is that is being said to a wider audience?

Tom

 

A shame because I found his tales of early preservation fascinating as someone who wasn't even alive back then!

 

Thanks, but I don't think I need to hear about early preservation politics as well!

 

I am actually in that group as well on Facebook and it does make for some interesting reading once you get past some of the more unpleasantness and todays argument about paid staff. One of the things which does keep popping up which is interesting is the lack of a long term plan for the railway. One of the things they have done is compare the railway to its closet neighbors and does it make you wonder. The Swanage railway has just reached Wareham, the Isle of Wight has recently built train story and the Bluebell has recently reached East Grinstead and has several building projects on the go.

Its an interesting group to join if you are on Facebook, its not the friendliest or politically correct but some of the photos are golden.

 

Quite agree. I think that obviously some members of the group feel hard done by. Past problems and certain individuals in particular account for this, however as a resource of the early pioneering days of the MHR it is invaluable.

 

Lots of members were hard done by in days gone by. That fb page was formed to keep the controversy off here so that current members wouldn't feel threatened, but they insisted on joining there and keeping up their campaign to whitewash history, and now they are dragging it back onto here.. What happened happened, and I can see no way you can have the good bits without the bad. John is as we know very wounded by it all, would it not be a great idea if the current volunteers reached out to him rather than attack him?
Laving that aside it's a great page for photos and brought back memories to me even though it was 1983/4 that my own involvement was terminated.

 

If any of the regulars on here haven't been accepted, message me and I'll fix it.

 

Moving things on.....

Very much enjoyed this new post on the MHR website about the naming of Canadian Pacific.... that photo of 21c5 on her naming ceremony was a pain to track down we ended up finding it on a German photo searching website.

http://preservation.watercressline.co.uk/blog/entry/whats-in-a-name-the-naming-of-canadian-pacific


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Interesting about the naming of the locomotive, but not quite the full story.
They say: "The name Canadian Pacific is normally associated with the Canadian Pacific Railway (Railroad), however this is not the basis of the engines name."
Might be correct but this classic logo:
http://www.pbase.com/tolts/image/151414943
tells you that once the railway and shipping line was one, actually the steamship company was started by the railway.

 

It is interesting to note that the Canadian Pacific ships were registered in Britain, not Canada. I well remember the Canadian Pacific Empress liners at Liverpool landing stage. Indeed, they had their own special train, The Empress Voyager, which ran from Liverpool Riverside station to London Euston. At one time these trains were hauled up to Edge Hill by double headed ex LNW Coal Tanks, where they were replaced by larger LMS locos for the trip to Euston.

 

Not a major restoration yet, but things stirring in the headshunt at Alresford.... some work on 4MT 2-6-4T 80150 to prevent further ingress of water into the boiler and to clean and oil the pony truck in order to make the loco a bit more moveable, ready for the day (some time ahead) when it might move up to Ropley. There are new parts and patterns for this loco, as it shares some components with Std 4 4-60 and 2-6-0 variants, of which the MHR has one each.

Paul Russenberger stands in the cab (not that this particular component is present at the moment!)

 

Anybody who visits Ropley on a Saturday will see the guys from the Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society. They can be seen beavering away on S15 No E828, returning it to the condition it was in when on display at Bournemouth Open Weekend in 1998.

 

I remember the weekend well. Will we ever see another Bournemouth open weekend again.

 

Looking on the MHR gala thread I see there is a friends of 80150. I wonder if we will see another group starting up supporting 34058.