SVR General Discussion

This is heresy in some quarters, but the SVR management IMO have got their heads screwed on. It's the railway I grew up with and volunteered on, and realising I'd got too many memberships for a cost of living crisis it was actually one of the ones I've culled - I'm still a shareholder - on the basis that they'll be fine without me! Obviously, in an emergency I'll get my chequebook out...

 

The official opening of Bridgnorth MPD:

 

I've gone the other way and stumped up for life membership. I suppose it will save me money in the long run.

 

It’s something I should consider, then I hear what my father has to say…

 

The refreshed MPD looks fantastic, I'm glad they managed to sort the cash flow out to resin coat the floor too. Definitely guilty of a little bit of gantry envy...

 

September's edition of Branch Lines was published earlier today https://www.svrlive.com/blsep22

 

I'd wager it's the first time that phrase has cropped up in any context.

 

Third (at least) overhead gantry on the SVR, after boiler shop and TMD. I wonder if anyone knows the three makes, models and lifting capacities (I don't)

 

2 out of 3:

• The 'new' (second hand) Bridgnorth Loco Works crane is AG Cranes Limited serial no AG221/333 and is marked as SWL 6,300kg (verbally described at the opening ceremony as a 6.3 tonne crane).
• The TMD crane is A&B Cranes Ltd serial no J6214 and is marked as WLL 10,000kg.
• I don't have a photo or details on the Boiler Shop crane, although before the boiler shop was built, SVR News said the minimum requirement was a SWL of 30 tons.

I am not a crane expert (and am happy to be corrected by anyone that is), but Google suggests that:

• SWL (Safe Working Load) is an old term which has been superseded by MRC (Maximum Rated Capacity) - the maximum allowable lifting capacity of the crane when the lift is a straight-line pull.
• WLL (Working Load Limit) takes into account lifting devices below the crane hook, so for example if a two-leg sling consisting of two single legs is used, then the WLL is reduced depending on the included angle between the slings.

 

Bloody Amateur, you haven’t mentioned the one in Kidderminster TMD

 

As in the second one of the three I listed?

 

I do apologise my friend, I did miss that one.

 

No problem - that's the sort of thing I do more and more these days but I blame it on getting old.

 

So you're inferring Matt is getting old?

 

It's preferable to the alternative!

 

Steve, I am getting old mate even at the age of 38 I’ve found out painting the ceiling and walls at work, I’m most definitely not as flexible as I used to be.
The mind is willing, the body is now telling me otherwise!

 

Which does rather raise the question as to why the requirement for one in the loco shed was spec'ed so low?
It's clearly not rated high enough to lift boilers on/off frames and generally move those about if the boiler shop needed a 30t crane, which means it definately isn't strong enough to lift locos for easily rolling wheels in/out (for which there is the wheel-drop anyway). No doubt it'll be useful for assembly of cab work, motion and dropping chimneys on, but it does seem an odd choice to sacrifice space in the shed for an overhead crane and then choose one that isn't capable of undertaking all the lifting tasks that might be wanted from it?

 

I think you've answered your own question there. If you've got a large crane in the boiler shop and a wheel drop, then you don't really need another large crane. The new one can be used for pretty much all other assembly work that's required.

 

Think about what’s involved in lifting the frames of a loco? Your lifting points are about 30 feet apart so you need two cranes or a very high building to fit your lifting equipment in, even if using a spreader beam.