6201, her new lease of life.

That makes for interesting reading. If accurate, it gives two different sides to the story and explains the situation 6201 finds herself in right now.

 

Sadly even £280,000 doesn't get you much without any volunteer input. Contract overhauls are not cheap and you could argue that 6201 should have been sidelined until more cash was available.

 

It seems they are banking on the hire fees to pay for the upcoming repairs, and hoped the repairs they had done were just enough to see them through until they had built up some funds.

There's another article from Steam Railway that states their various appeals earlier this year didn't even raise £8000 in total.

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/steam-railway-uk/20170616/282097751690741

 

I think I would have argued it myself - but I don't know the ins and outs of what's gone on. Seems unfair to call it either way without more information.

I can see the calculated gamble for hire fees versus full overhaul. It has some sense to it. Was it the right decision? Hindsight says not but then we've not got all the facts they had when they were making that decision.

 

That's a risky game to play. Absolutely fine if the loco remains in traffic long enough to earn the money for ongoing repairs but if it fails too soon, you end up with the situation 6201 now faces.

 

Is this a similar situation 44767 found itself in?

 

Except that one is privately owned.

 

On 4 Sept someone (not me) asked on the 6201 Princess Elizabeth Locomotive Society Facebook page what the latest situation was about repairs and received the reply "We're still fundraising for repairs, and are almost half way there with the small tubes appeal. We're at PRCLT's 'Friends of the Duchess' open weekend this weekend too at the West Shed Butterley, so we're hoping plenty of people will come along and support us."

 

..... and 44767 seems to be in need of rather more drastic attention, quite soon after its overhaul.

 

I'm just glad that I had a main line run behind 6201 during her last full boiler certificate - I fear that we are in for a very long wait for her to return - but would be delighted to be proved wrong.

 

Butterley seems to be becoming a bit of a graveyard for knackered locos!

 

That is why I was thinking similar... not long after overhaul, boiler and firebox work required, not enough funds available to complete the work, so the loco is idle while the £££ is raised. Something I fear may be a recurring theme (well the funds to complete part at least) for various loco owners.

 

But does it really make much difference in the long run when your locomotive is out service for fund raising? In twenty years time will anyone really care that a given locomotive had an intermediate repair in 2015 and ran for two more years before stopping for 5 years to fund raise for the major, or stopped in 2015 for 5 years while the funds were raised? Surely the majority of out of service locomotives are out of service because the money isn't there to turn them around as fast as the original factories would have done?

 

If it was my engine, I'd care and so would most of the rest of the team. Don't forget, the boiler ticket clock is ticking and it will cost more money to set that back to zero.
The owning group no doubt took the decision they did in the best of faith and IMO gambled on the loco being in service long enough to earn the money for the extra work needed. Looks like it hasn't worked out as they would have liked.

 

I think it makes a lot of difference when your loco is out of service, if them wheels ain't turning, you ain't earning! The best advertisement you can have is an in steam loco, I wouldn't like to speak for Ian (he's more than capable of that himself!) but with 34081 returning to service and going on tour this year I should imagine that's put 92 Squadron back into the public eye, and made it a bit more helpful in raising funds, than if 34081 was still under overhaul and the BBLS were still having a sales stand at the railways it had visited.

 

Could the Loco be patched up sufficiently to run on heritage lines only ? to allow it to earn some cash ? I mean it has just had 280k spent on it and did a few main line trips so it can't be that bad.
They could then also do driver experience etc to raise further funds. As had been said on here already, in cash strapped times many people don't like to give money with nothing in return.
If they had that trickle of money coming in they could then gradually get through the list of jobs needed.

 

Would doubt any boiler inspector would sign her off as fit for use, if the problems detailed are correct.

 

In the scheme of things, £100k isn't very much money - 4 average new cars, but looking at the list of things that need doing to Lizzie I wonder if that figure might grow. I suspect the amount of money that can be raised for construction or repair of a steam loco is affected more by reputation and confidence in a good outcome than by any rewards a donor might get. Also, as others have already said, the connection with the name of our existing, very popular monarch is a unique selling point. I'm amazed that very little seems to have been made of this.

 

A working loco is its own biggest fund raiser. Steaming fees come in at a far greater rate than funds from raffles, sales stalls etc. That said, we have a good fund raising team that has stuck to the task since the project was launched way back in 1973. The team's efforts funded the restoration from scrap condition and following her return to traffic, kept adding to whatever the loco earned in steaming fees so we could commence the recent overhaul with a degree of confidence that progress wouldn't stall through lack of income. 34081 merchandise has sold well over the years but we always sell more when she's in traffic as people want a souvenir of the engine they've just ridden behind.
I wish the 6201 group well as I know how we felt when we lost a year with 34081 through needing firebox repairs during her first ticket. The difference being, we had the money in the bank to pay for them.