4920 Dumbleton Hall

They must have used the Germinio charm to duplicate it... (From Book 7 if anybody isn't as much as a Potterhead as I am!)

 

I wonder if it would actually be much cheaper? What would an out-of-traffic genuine example cost? Say a middling six figures, plus transport plus painting etc. Could you build a tinplate version (given you’d potentially still have transport and painting) for that price? And could you do it quickly, given that there is an opportunity cost if, say, you could have Dumbleton now or a cheaper replica but not for another 12 months?

Tom

 

Yeah, I agree actually. It feels wrong. But then nobody with the means and desire to do anything with her came forward. Did we ever find out if the previous owners actually knew what she was being sold for?

I’ve been wondering what they will tell the visitors? In Watford at least they can say ‘this is the real loco used in the film’. Dumbleton isn’t a replica, it’s not a recreation, it wasn’t the backup loco or used in any static shots. It’s really an imposter. Will they be honest and say ‘this isn’t the original but it’s the same type’?

Maybe I shouldn’t admit that my own browsing history is more steamy and industrial then!!

 

Has it ever been established who now owns it ? Is it owned by Warner Bros or on loan from West coast railways ? If the later that would be definitely better.

 

I suspect the lasting value of a real Hall is likely higher than a custom built mockup… if it ever ceases to be useful as a Hogwarts Castle, it still has potential value as a GWR Hall in decent nick and well protected from the elements.

Simon

 

Quite. I suspect if you factor that in as well, buying and transporting Dumbleton (with higher residual value and lower opportunity cost) is probably financially cheaper than building a replica - given the initial availability, of course.

Tom

 

I think you have to be slightly careful of that argument, because it leads to a form of cultural nationalism. If you consider the Hall (both as an engineering product of Swindon, and a representation of an English work of literature) as a cultural artefact representative of this country, then there has always been a transfer of such artefacts between countries. I can go to Paris and see a Constable painting of Salisbury; and I can go to London and see a Monet painting of Giverny. Arguably the cultural life of both countries would be poorer without that opportunity to see significant artefacts from elsewhere. Given that Halls aren’t exactly rare, I think the benefit of export to a secure environment probably outweighs having it sat outside somewhere on a damp siding in the UK with limited access to the public.

Tom

 

Not had a lot of support in recent years though has she.

 

I couldn’t comment: I don’t know the full details. I can’t imagine anyone thought she’d end up in Japan.

With respect Jim, I did question myself in my post…

 

I think there's a value in it being an authentic article from the same background. I think I said a few pages back that this sort of chocolate box arcadian Britishness has quite a lot of cachet in Japan, so it probably adds some value to be able to say that back in the day this loco would have steamed past the village green with its thwack of leather on willow and vicar on a bicycle. Possibly a value beyond just the (tenuous) Harry Potter connection.

 

We've had Kings and Royal Scots swap identities, haven't we? And a second 9F masquerading as Evening Star. And recently a Jubilee carrying several identities at once. So there is some precedent for a Hall that didn't carry the Hogwarts Castle identity in the film(s)* pretending to be the one that did, if indeed it is being presented as that. Or is it only being presented as Hogwarts Castle, without an explicit claim that it is the actual one that appeared in the film(s)?

*Such is the small extent of my knowledge of the Harry Potter world that I don't know whether any such loco appeared in more than one film.

 

There is a replica in the Harry Potter world in Florida. Nothing is said about whether it is real or a replica, but it doesn’t seem to detract from visitor’s interest in it.

I imagine the same will happen in Japan. The Japanese know that Harry Potter wasn’t filmed in Japan and will realise that most of what they see is a recreation.

I think buying/hiring 4920 was simply easier and cheaper than building another replica. So that was why it was used, not so they can try to make any claims to authenticity.

 

Universal Studios Florida is a theme park though. This is a prop museum.

 

Assuming this isn't them just using a stock photo from the London site, looks like she is in situ now. https://www.wbstudiotour.jp/en/the-experience/sets/#platform-9-¾

 

Pretty sure that's 5972 so a stock photo, unless they've gone to the effort of making up a dummy fire iron tunnel for 4920 ?

 

Judging by the photo earlier in the thread they have:

Presumably they consider Harry Potter fans are just as [observant] as steam engine enthusiasts...

 

Funnily enough I was thinking the same.

The chain blocks to the rear of the loco don't look massive.......

 

If those grey strops on the front buffers are the same as in the UK they are rated at 4 tonnes each. Doubled up they are 8 tonnes so giving a SWL on the buffer beam of 16 tonnes. Assuming those on the rear are the same that gives a total of 32 tonnes. I'm at a loss to think what those attached to the running plate valance are doing. They can't have an SWL much above 3 tonnes and I doubt the running plate would stand that, in any case. How the load is properly shared between all that lifting equipment, I don't know. If that's a real loco, that looks like a dodgy lift to me. Perhaps there's no boiler under that cladding.