6201, her new lease of life.

The question is why or how did the locomotive get a ticket if the boiler was a bag of spanners? Presumably the Penrith incident a few years ago didn't do the funds any favours, either. However, if the blame is apportioned by the group or individual in charge for the result of an overhaul that was clearly done to a budget, then credibility goes out the window. My prediction is that the current setup will continue to struggle to gain trust from potential donors.

 

I am inclined to agree, but I can see a possible explanation that would cast those responsible in a somewhat better light. They presumably hoped that the limited amount of work that they could afford to pay Tyseley for would allow the loco back onto the main line for long enough to bring in a useful amount of money before further work became essential. And Tyseley apparently didn't refuse to work on that basis, so presumably they believed that the boiler could be kept going for a little while. And the boiler inspector must have thought the same. What seems to have gone wrong is the assessment of how soon further work would be unavoidable.

The alternative would have been to leave the loco sitting in a shed until enough money could be scraped together for a more thorough overhaul. Getting that money in might have been hard, but getting it in now looks even harder.

 

While out on a tour yesterday, I've heard Lizzies boiler is now effectively kaput, Anyone know any more ?.

 

Have a look at my earlier post (#120) in this thread and the Headline news report in the March issue of The Railway Magazine. The boiler Inspector says that the boiler has to come out for extensive repairs before it can be used again. So pretty kaput by the sounds of it. The report says that there are cracks in all four corners of the bottom of the firebox.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

This was also in SR 464 Feb 24 - Mar 23.

 

The FB post said the boiler had been condemned and 600,000 was needed. Obviously it's hear say until confirmed.

 

Pretty amazing that so many cracks could accrue in the short time between the overhaul and now.

Dave

 

Not really. These boilers are getting old now. Time is coming when owners will be forced to look at replacement.

 

The more we hear, the worse it looks, both the scale of the faults and the cost to put them right, whether by repairs to the existing boiler or by building a completely new one. The prospect of raising the required funds looks very remote unless and until either responsibility is handed over to a new organisation or the present organisation recruits some new blood. A new support trust seems to be working for 71000.

 

People are making too many assumptions here, based on one post on Facebook. As far as I am aware 6201 is at the West Shed with the boiler still on the frames, encased in cladding, and still with a full set of tubes in. If this is the case, then the only part of the boiler that can be examined thoroughly is the inside of the firebox. Common sense tells me that a boiler cannot be condemned until it has had a complete and thorough examination, which has not taken place yet.
By the way, it would not surprise me if age has finally taken its toil on the boiler and firebox.

 

There is a saying, "No news is good news." Of course, the inverse is equally true.

 

Just give the loco away to someone like JH for free. I'm sure he would accept it on that basis. At least it would be running again in the future.

 

As I said right at the beginning of the thread, before the grim situation became clearer.
At one time a well known Stanier enthusiast and renowned loco engineer was keen to take on the management of this fine loco. Would definitely get painted black if that did happen ;-) but it would be in better hands.

 

Too many ego's to get in the way with that simple plan I think.

 

The 61994/60009 case is a little more complex. 61994 was owned by the Viscount and only came into John Cameron's hands comparatively recently (last decade or so) after having been privately owned by the same family for several decades after withdrawal.

David Shepherd remains the ultimate example of a single owner doing his best for railway preservation in this country with Black Prince going to the NNR.

The loss of 61994, as a unique Gresley survivor, to an existence in a small museum up in Scotland and on static display is quite distressing for an LNER enthusiast. The arguments for 61994 and 60009 are not the same: one is unique, the other is one of six surviving class members.

I have felt - ever since Scotsman came into public ownership, in fact - that the notion of owning a steam locomotive as property, when it represents history and has a story to tell that is of interest to the wider general public in this country, to be increasingly at odds with the reality. We can't take our steam locomotives with us when we reach the grave. Leaving them in the capable hands of the next generation with a future seems to be the most reasonable path. It is more custodianship than ownership in my view.

Alternate views are available. I have put this in writing in Steam Railway magazine a few months ago. It is regrettable that there has been so little time to put together a new group for the K4. I made suggestions and would go further but the door appears to be shut now.

It is a shame.

I think the A1 Trust funding model has proven remarkably resilient and their development into their own TOC, effectively, with new build steam probably points the way forwards for many.

 

And isn't what John Cameron is doing a form of custodianship?

 

Not in my view. But as I say, alternate views are available. I concede that having the locomotives on display in the dry and undercover is more than acceptable. I differ with many I know on the subject of 61994's future.

I personally believe Gresley's last surviving mogul - and the LNER's only actual surviving mogul (the K1 is British Railways built) should have a brighter future - and as I have said before, if a group could be formed to support John Cameron, I'd be happy to join and support financially and practically as a compliance control officer. That avenue seems closed, if Mr Cameron's comments in Steam Railway last month are accurate (no reason to suspect otherwise) and in my view, that is a shame. I lament the passing of 61994 from active service.

6201 appears to require a complete sea change in the owning groups priorities and process. It is a crying shame that it has come to this. We can only speculate - which is not in itself helpful.

 

Getting a bit off topic from 6201 here, But IMO RE: The idea that as an owner you can do what you like with it, I sort of get that, But at the end of the day, You can't take it with you when your time comes, After working for a lifetime to preserve and operate your machine on the mainline, It seems a shame to stuff and mount it permanently IMO, Almost as if the dream dies with you, I'd prefer that to be a "worst case scenario" If there was no one to hand over the baton to so to speak and keep the dream alive of keeping the machine you saved from the scrapheap going on the big railway beyond your years, Certainly David Shepard has made sure 92203 is taken into good hands for future operations, And I doubt there would be no suitable takers to take care of an A4 or Princess Royal, 75MPH rated Class 8 machines are too thin on the ground to be losing too many from the scene, Yes there are other A4's, but out of a total of 6, thats 4 effectively unlikely to steam again.