Current and Proposed New-Builds

Reading the above, I've just received an e-mail from Hattons in Liverpool with an unusual model therein:

https://www.hattons.co.uk/868929/ho...rt_livery_3_rail_pre_owned_noisy_/stockdetail

 

And if enough of us tell you it is?

 

Yes 92245 or whats left of it is still around. and i think you are pulling my pl8nker because i am a particular advocate of said 2-8-2 : duplicating the Clan boiler and trailing truck and a bit of frame surgery to 92245 would get you most of the way to a decent facsimile of said 2-8-2 !

 

To draw away from the current negativity towards the current situation, would anyone fancy a Johnson 2228
0-4-4T from the Midland? Paired with the two Stanier suburban coaches at the KWVR, it’d fit perfect between Keighley and Oxenhope.

 

[Whistles innocently]
Who me?

Tbh, you'll not get a 9f on the mainline any more, add the clan expertise and the (hopefully-)succesful P2, and you'd have all the necessary expertise to make it happen. It's not illogical.

Maybe we should take a leaf out of the 47xx lot and chop up a brit for the bits...

 

Would that be with Caprotti or Lentz gear then?

 

Careful, you cant say ' Chop up for bits' you have to say ' make surplus components available for a Standard 8p New build project'.

 

Let me guess .... "King George VII".

 

Nah, Duke of Edinburgh...

 

I would love that! However my head overrules and says no more new builds after the ones that are currently under construction.

Without random bequests when a member dies, i can only see 5551, P2, 6880, 32424, 1014, 82045 and the G5 being completed within the next 5-10 years. Many of the others could never steam.

Im afraid that i cant see big positives in the future of steam at the best of times, and truly believe the best days are behind us. With the increasing coal that is making a lot of railways reduce the amount of steaming days they run the knock on effect means that locos wont get enough days steaming to put towards future overhauls meaning they would need to increase the cost of the steaming fee again having a knock on effect. Less and less locos needed which would mean you could end up just having locos out that are all similar or the same to keep cost down for batch parts, standard 4 tanks for the larger railways, jintys ish for the smaller ones. And maybe a few of the larger locos come in for occasional visits if they can from the mainline.

Personal tip, dont put off going to the larger events now for the next few years, make the most of them!!

 

Believe me when I say I take no pleasure in agreeing with that analysis from @Gav106, but aside from the Holden F5 789 missing from his 'likely to steam' list, I fear I do .... and they are

 

Of the new builds, it'll certainly be interesting to see if the V3 ever gets built: the pessimist in me doubts it very much. I can almost see the V4 for Scottish duties but that's it.

I'd like to see the Holden F5 in steam one day and I might mitigate my tax liability with a donation to the G5 team

 

You see i would have put that on the list, they got a large bequest of 250k the other year which will hopefully see a large amount done on the bottom end of the loco, however that project isnt like 82045 with loads of volunteer engineers, its much closer to 5551 with paid people doing all of the engineering. This puts the price up massively and in a normal year they only raise around 15k. Once the 250k has gone i cant see how they will get all the money required to do the rest. Hopefully it could be one to change its fortune by showing good progress in the next few years with the lump sum. But its a pretty niche class with little followers. But as i said above, there is always the chance that a member or 2 will die and leave large sums of money to projects and things change for any loco project.

 

The completion of few key components convince me the F5 is a realistic proposition .... that and the GER has it's followers, some well heeled and not necessarily in the first flush of youth, or particularly healthy! Add that there are a few geographically appropriate lines where it would be an excellent 'fit', which typically garners increasing support as a build progresses. I still recall when 32424 was regarded as a pipe-dream.

 

P2, 6880, 32424 and 82045 are all variously on their home straights. I'd expect Beachy and Betton to make steam next year. 82045 is making steady progress along the way. The F5 has a good chance despite a couple of false starts. The Patriot is a real kettle of fish but is far too deep in it to turn back now. And I have no idea where the P2 is at but the team know what they're doing and are using a lot of common components from Tornado.

 

I believe the gent who painted it has sign written what colour he believes it to be discreetly somewhere on it!

 

5551 while it has had its engineering issues does happen to have one thing up its sleeve, it has one of the best fundraising/incomes in locomotive societies. As such the wheels have already been cast for replacement, the tyres have arrived at the west shed and the work to get them back into wheelsets should start in October. So by spring next year the loco could be back on its wheels, and starting to get back to how it should have been. The boiler is coming on well, crown stays being fitted at the moment as well. I know a lot of people on here seem to have suddenly written it off as if it might not happen (most without any knowledge of how much money is in the bank and how much it makes each year) which really makes me laugh tbh.

 

Certainly its not without its problems and I don't think I jumped in to write it off entirely but it sounds like its taking a bit of a detour but is getting back on track so hopefully it isn't too far away.

 

I'd add the B17 (being at CTL is a massive credibility boost) and V4 (A1 Trust are the experts at this game) as well as the F5 to @Gav106 's list.

 

The V4 is an odd one, in that I've no doubts whatsoever about the abilities of the team to produce that or any other loco. TBH, I was a tad disappointed they didn't announce the project after the P2 was to be a water-tube boilered compound W1! If anyone could succeed where Gresley didn't ...... I doubt too many would see things differently.

What does give me pause for.thought is the coal situation. I could envisage a scenario where at least one of the carbon capture systems awaiting scaling to full production would be capable of producing some coal analogy (quite possibly a superior product to MKI coal), but will that happen before those whose expertise have fallen off their perches? Time and tide .... and all that.