Bulleid Pacifics - Past or Present

Don't the locos mentioned have an additional support locating the front of the slide bar to the rear cylinder? if you look at the picture of Clan line, this bracket is the only support for the slide bar, and any deflection would result in a major failure.

 

Thanks for the various contributions. I'm not entirely convinced about the effectiveness of red paint for revealing cracks, and I would expect a better method to be used nowadays, but I suppose red paint was better than nothing. But that then leaves the question why (as far as I can tell from pictures on line) it was applied to some Bulleid Pacifics and not others.

 

Surely not painting something is a better if you want to inspect it for cracks?

 

But then it'll corrode and you probably won't be able to see a crack.

Noel

 

the steel will blacken with exposure to the elements, I was told be an ex Eastleigh fitter, that Frames were painted Red on the inside because, if something breaks, or moves, the surface will show black lines against the red

 

I believe whitewashing was the Grouping-era practice when looking for cracks in rods. I guess it acted like a primitive dye-penetrant exam, but I certainly have read of rods being kept unpainted precisely to facilitate inspection for cracks. I've always assumed that red between the frames was partly to give the poor driver/fitter half a chance of seeing what he was doing in poor lighting conditions; the GER liked a fetching shade of primrose which must have been even better, when clean.

I've never heard of problems with the slidebar brackets on the Bulleids, Schools or Nelsons, all of which had much the same arrangement. The Bulleids did have a weakness around the front end in original condition, but it was due to a lack of stiffness between the frames above the middle cylinder, and resolved on rebuilding by the provision of a very substantial smokebox saddle, in addition to the new inside cylinders. Conversely, the Britannias did have trouble from them shifting too much, with the Bulleid frame arrangement lending itself rather less well to two large cylinders than three small ones.

As far as I can tell, the red paint scheme (on the slidebar brackets) didn't show up on any of the Nelsons, was unusual on original Pacifics in BR days (34051 doesn't have it and didn't before the MHR repainted her), and was by no means universal on rebuilds. I've always assumed it was a bit of a local depot or paint shop affectation; if you look at photos of Clan Line it's only really applied to the easily visible surfaces; the hard to clean (and hard to inspect) bits are all still in black. And yes, I did find some old raw image files and push the shadows up as bright as they'd go, just to check....

 

Painting red of locomotive inside frames was I thought, regular practice and not unique to Bulleids? B1 Mayflower is an example as is the new build Patriot seen here.
With regards to the slide-bar bracketing on preserved Bullieds, some are painted red (example 35028 Clan Line) but some are painted black (example 35018 BIL) so it may just be a localised practice that some have followed and other's not.

 

I can see where you are coming from but I'm not convinced. Loco frames are traditionally painted red on the inside, even by industrial loco builders like Hunslet and I can't see them painting locos to make defects more readily identifiable. Red is, however, not universal and there are plenty of examples of the insides of frames being painted in other colours. Paint is also notorious for hiding cracks as they would only become evident if there was sufficient relevant movement to crack the paint, which often isn't the case.
My gut feeling is that it was a depot or works thing but I have nothing to back this up.

 

You may already know that Clan Line spent the weekend on the Bluebell Railway, receiving maintenance on their wheeldrop. This announcement appeared on the MNLPS FaceAche feed a couple of hours ago:

"Clan Line will be hauling the 14:30 service train Sheffield Park- East Grinstead and back this afternoon on the Bluebell Railway.This is a test run for our loco after the work thats taken place last weekend. Originally planned to run after the sevice trains had run today, however both representatives of the Bluebell Railway and MNLPS have agreed to run the loco on a service train instead. This will be the only service train we will be hauling before our depature tomorrow evening."​

 

A MN has moved home today .

 

I'm sure I'm not alone in finding posts like this very irritating. Why not post the loco concerned and the home concerned?
As it stands your post is completely pointless

Keith

 

Riley and Sons posted on Facebook that work on 35009 commences. Photos show the frames and boiler loaded up

 

I can't seem to link to the post or I would.

Good news, though. I assume it'll be a good few years. Riley's seem to be quick workers but it looks like it's in not much more than Barry condition.

 

Fantastic news! A somewhat more protracted and challenging than an overhaul of a Black Five, which the Riley team can accomplish in next to no time, but a Merchant restored and maintained to the same high standards that we have been used to with 44871, 45212 and 45407 will be well worth the wait. Thanks for posting.

 

I always hoped that 35009 would eventually move up the queue, because, on todays railway, a gauge friendly 75 mph loco that can haul almost any tour is easier to path than a loco that is limited to 60 mph, An 8 p has more in reserve than an 5, and down here, I can imagine having 35009 available for hire would be a good move how often does a riley 5 turn up at the head of a tour from Victoria , if some of that work ends up with 35009, then it would make sence to restore her now.

 

Would it be too much to hope that they manage to get it done before 35028 and 35018's tickets expire? 3 merchants on the mainline is a pleasing thought.

 

https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/35009-shaw-savill-sr-21c9-br-35009/

'Restoration may start in 2018 but the plan to convert the locomotive to a Super Merchant with a 10,000 gallon tender has been abandoned.'

10,000 gallon???!!!!!!!

 

Would that have been a double-bogie Bulleid version - an amalgamation of a Nelson and Bulleid?

Good to see the suggestion of BR Blue has already been made elsewhere. Priorities as always amongst those that matter...

 

https://www.facebook.com/677312929014439/posts/2489636824448698?sfns=xmwa