Brighton Atlantic: 32424 Beachy Head

Agree about an o-6-0 being perfectly adequate for most places although a 3MT is hardly excessive and the type was associated with the Severn Valley.
However, sixty years of railway preservation ought to have seen W.I.B.N. tempered a bit more by reality. Widespread reports of financial difficulties illustrate what can be the result of failing to do so.

 

I thought the idea to build a new Brighton Atlantic was because none had survived? and Are not preserved railways people trying to escape from reality? taking a trip back to an time when you were a child, and didn't have the mortgage to worry about,

 

The discussions about suitability or otherwise has been held endlessly on this thread: suffice to say its an H2 Atlantic that is being built, not a C2x, D3 or anything else. I don’t suppose debating the issue yet again is going to change yours or anyone else’s mind - so any chance we could let it rest and just concentrate on the build itself?

Tom

 

Not to argue with what is being done, but would a single welded skin with dummy rivet heads have been easier or cheaper?

 

Maybe, but you seem to be unaware that the original Atlantics did occasionally run over what is now the Bluebell Railway.

 

Quite aware of that. "Occasionally" is the operative word>

 

In order to ensure this, W.I.B.N. needs to be tempered a bit.

 

Without WIBN Calbourne would have been next in the cutting queue at Ryde in 1967, Without WIBN those initial 5 coaches would have been burnt and scrapped at Newport, Without WIBN there would be no IOWSR,
and the same can be said of every single one of our preserved railways, no 488, no terriers to save, no barry escapees, every single appeal starts with someone saying, Wouldn't it be nice to save that loco, buy that stretch of closed railway, buy some coaches.

 

51 years ago I roared over the NW hills on my Dommy 88 chasing BR steam for what I thought was the last time. I should have laughed if someone had told me that as a 70+ pensioner I would still be riding a Norton to watch mainline steam. I should have laughed if someone told me that I would travel from KingsX to Edinburgh behind a newly built A1 in 8 hours or that I would travel behind steam at 90 mph on the LNER. I could go on but this is enough to demonstrate the power of WIBN.

 

You really do need to read properly, what is said. There are worrying numbers of places who lost significant sums of money last year. Hence the need for W.I.B.N. to be tempered to ensure their survival.

 

And in a few more years, you will be able to Travel to either Sheffield park, or East Grinstead, and see a rebuild Marsh Atlantic, in steam, so many years after the very last was lost in a cloud of sparks and molten metal, At a Station that did not exist until recently if travelling from East Grinstead , along tracks that were once a landfill ,along tracks that originally were tore up by contractors , this to me is what preservation is all about.

 

That all depends upon present financial issues being addressed. It will require more than wishful thought.

 

Although, to be fair, probably rather faster than the 25 mph that the new one will be allowed.

WIBN caused dozens of projects to be started and amazing amounts of cash to be found to pay for them (as well as volunteer labour). Big projects continue to be undertaken and supported, such as the station at Broadway and the additional under-cover accommodation on the Bluebell. Raising the cash to maintain the fruits of projects after they have been achieved (such as maintaining the track on the WSR) seems to be harder.

At least Beachy Head (returning to the proper subject of this thread), when finished and after perhaps a bit of snagging and final tweaks, will be a brand spanking new locomotive, which should need only routine maintenance for a good few years.

 

I am glad you mentioned the WSR as part of their problem appears to have been the use of heavy equipment to the detriment of track and underline structures. A Brighton Atlantic has a 19 ton axle load.

Yes, one might expect a newbuild to have a period free from majormechanical trouble. However, the same would apply if the replica were of a C2x, Drummond "700" or Adams "Jubilee.

 

Actually, I only got involved again because someone mentioned my name rather gratuitously and I knew reference to the moderators would be pointless. Bye Bye

 

Maybe, but surely the spur that got this project going was the discovery of a 'low mileage' GN Atlantic boiler at Maldon, Essex.

 

If the intention was to run a cost effective public transport system, you likely wouldn't use rails at all. All that maintenance and liability and sunk capital....