Rother Valley Railway

A watched kettle (planning decision) never boils (arrives)...
I have never tried to boil a planning decision though.

Reading the runes and guessing the outcome is fun, as long as all remember it makes no difference to the outcome

 

Interesting updates posted over the last few days on the official RVR blog page. Here is a link to a progress report on the turntable. This will probably be installed before the result of the Public Inquiry!

Anybody wanting to be kept up to date on progress should consider joining the Supporters Association. Link here. Members receive a quarterly publication 'The Phoenix' which is very informative.

 

The group have set themselves a very demanding set of criteria here, both with physical clearances and timelines, not to mention the ground type they have to utilise for the construction.
And yet I don't doubt for one moment they will achieve this, probably with time to spare, and with their usual impeccable standards.

 

RVR have applied to Rother DC to vary conditions on their Planning Consent to allow for a phased approach to the development. You can view the planning application here.

 

Work is starting on the installation of the Turntable at Robertsbridge. See here for the news story and photographs.

 

Hello,
Please forgive me if this has been discussed earlier down the thread - I haven't had the chance to go through all 90 pages!

I'm just curious to know what the plan is for steam traction once the KESR & RVR are joined into one long line. As far as I can see, the KESR steam fleet currently consists of:

• Smaller tank engines (Terriers, P-Class, 16XX... Charlwelton*?) - I'd guess not suitable for regular services on a 20-odd mile line?
• Austerities and USA Tanks - probably powerful enough but I can't think of another line of that length where engines like this are used regularly; would coal and water capacity be an issue?
  
• Norwegian 376
• 3 large GWR tanks which are all under overhaul or restoration according to Wikipedia.

Are Norwegian and the Western tanks to be the mainstays of the fleet? I was wondering if they might try to acquire a Southern region loco of a suitable size but aside from maybe one of SLL's Bulleid Pacifics, I can't think of any that might be surplus to requirements at their current home. The only other thing that comes to mind is maybe a BR standard.

I really hope though that the railway doesn't stop using the likes of the Austerities and Charlwelton - as a former Colonel Stephens light railway, it's great to see industrial traction used!

*Owned by the RVR but on loan to the KESR

 

Were any 'Stephens' line to follow the Colonel's bottom line right now, which was the most economic choice to do the job required, most of the heritage community wouldn't like the answer .... because it would, I've no doubt, involve Pacers!

In steam loco terms, given the Colonel's 'Ilfracombe Goods' fleet had been well and truly run into the ground by the 1930s (pity, that .... lovely little locos), the Norwegian light mogul seems a most appropriate fit for the line. Attractive machines, too. Had they been available (at a reasonable price, naturally) and Pacers not, I suspect Stephens wouldn't have needed to think twice.

 

I visited the Telford Steam Railway a couple of months ago and they have a two Pacers.

 

The GWR tank 4253 is undergoing restoration and I understand that the idea is that this will be used for the extended line.

 

In fact, he pretty much invented the concept, with the Ford and Shefflex railcar sets...

 

Pah! Too modern by half ..... The 'small' Drewry on Stephens WC&P arrived in 1921, beating the 'back to back' sets by a couple of years. On the IoW, the FYNR 4w Drewry car was earlier still, entering service in 1913. Mind you, the laurels have to go to the NER, whose now restored example (one of two built), dates from 1903.

Was there anything earlier, anywhere in the UK?

 

As I understand it, (and this is subject to change), the three large GWR tanks, the Norwegian and 1638 are fine for our service, although the Norwegian can't manage 5 coaches up Tenterden Bank, and 1638 is working hard with the same load. The Austerities should be fine on the extended run, as I understand each set would make two round trips a day, as opposed to the three currently. That would actually ease the load per engine. (52 ish miles per day, as opposed to 60 on three trains a day now.) The USA tanks really are shunters, and seem to spend most of their time trying to undo the hard work our P Way team puts in!

The Terriers are fine for the extended distance, as they would not be overloaded. The P might be working a bit harder, but it is such a good engine, that I think it would be fine. Charwelton is having a MASSIVE overhaul, thanks to the generosity of it's owners, with a new boiler and cylinder block.

As far as attracting other locos is concerned, that really is down to the loco owners. Increasingly, Southern locos are owned by owning groups, rather than individuals. The KESR doesn't have the means to go out and buy one itself, hence the creation of 4253 Ltd. The KESR is also slightly hampered by having to be very careful about axle loadings, due to one bridge. Hopefully, in the future, this will be upgraded, and then we will have no such worries on the whole line.

One of the problems of trying to attract locos and owners is that, in effect, most railways are competing for the same small pool of engines (Class 3 to 6/7 ish). Class 8's and 9's are, in general, a bit heavy for daily use, and something like a Merchant Navy or 9F would look rather odd in a light railway environment! However, if anyone knows of a Standard tank whose owners want to relocate, I am sure we could talk.....

 

Restoration has also started on 5668, and 6619 has been stripped for an initial assessment. 6619, I believe, is the next engine due into the works, once 4253 is finished.

 

Thank you! This makes sense. 1638 must be more powerful than I realised if it can manage 5 up the bank ok. Really glad Charlewelton is being properly overhauled - how does its coal/water capacity and TE compare to an Austerity? Would it be able to operate normal services or would it be restricted to lighter duties?

 

Charwelton is lighter on T/E than an Austerity. It won't be able to manage the standard 5 coach set. However, it is hoped that it will be able to cope with a 4 coach set, which will include our Pullman set.

 

There is a report on Charwelton in the latest Pheonix published by the RVR supporters Association.

 

An update has been published this morning on the work to install the turntable on the RBR blog. Here is a link to the article.

 

There is a further update here with the promise of another this evening. Looks like they are ready to pour some concrete.

 

They're really cracking on with the turntable!

 

Here is a link to this evenings update LINK