Tornado

Pinch bars?

 

No wonder the overhaul took so long. Look at the "improvements" that they have carried out.
The driving wheel looks damn close to the boiler.

This image appeared (from the bashmash) during a search I made for the latest info regarding the boiler steam test.
There are still no updates anywhere to how the testing is going but conversations on social media are suggesting that the A1 is not going to be ready for a while as it hasn't even started moving around yet. If the Trust provided more updates it might stop all of the speculation that is occurring.

Sent from my XQ-BT52 using Tapatalk

 

It's the NVR I feel sorry for, they have been let down now how many times, The A1 trust, or more to the point, those in charge of it, from the person who agreed the hires, knowing full well the engine might not be ready needs to be sacked, and those in the trust who said , hang on, the engine isn't even complete yet, why were they ignored? is the board now a group of nodding donkeys, who go along with whatever someone who makes the decisions decides? The A1trust used to be an organisation that had a reputation for getting things done, from fund raising to the engineering of a brand-new engine where, and how has it gone so wrong?

 

Well good people, it appears that the optimists and apologists were right all along, and we pessimists (or realists?) will be tucking into a slice of humble pie for dinner today.

This was posted just yesterday by the Trust on their FB page ……


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The move is "planned" for early next week; but will it definitely happen next week? If the move does happen, will the loco be ready for its booked duties? We shouldn't be counting the chicken yet, even if the egg seems about to hatch.

 

You know my opinion. It hasn’t changed, I’m sticking with a no show.

 

On a different note altogether: the latest issue of The Communication Cord has arrived. It has several pages paying tribute to the late David Elliott and his legacy.

The same issue also notes that Ian Howitt has also passed away, on the 19th of July.

 

Is that the paper copy? No sign of the email version here.

 

Yes, it is. I try to limit screen time these days and bedtime reading is always done with real books and magazines - 'screen hygiene'.

 

I saw a paper copy in our mess room last week. So much more enjoyable. I changed to save them money, but those days are gone now. Think I’ll revert.

 

i wonder how many versions they went through and whether the email copy is being revised.. again.

 

Sad to hear the news about Ian Howitt. We go back over 60 years with the Leeds MRS and Talyllyn Railway although it's a good while since I last saw him.
RIP, Ian.

 

That's quite a time. Apparently he was known as "Hagrid" by some! I still remember him dipping that wet screwdriver into a pot of molten white metal on Absolutely Chuffed...

 

Has the engine, or should I say will the engine have turned a wheel under its own power by the time the transporter arrives to load it up I for one would not be in the least surprised if the engine moves on to the NVR in an untested state, and the driver experiences have to be postponed until the engine has been tested at this point has it even been signed off by the boiler insurer?

 

Very interesting to read the latest - and much delayed copy of TCC.

Lots of very warm and well deserved tributes to the late David Elliott including lots of people from the past but some very notable exceptions in who was asked to provide their recollections of the great man.

On fundraising, I see that the Trust still hasn't published how much The Overhaul Club has actually raised - surely a basic part of any fundraising campaign? It is also still very unclear as to the status of the much delayed two new boilers and when they might actually be delivered.

Also, they are still being very economical with the truth on who is on the current board. According to Companies House, Graeme Bunker-James resigned from the board on 9 November 2023 (he remains a director of all of their subsidiary companies and he also resigned from The Gresley Society Trust on 1 April 2023 and Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) Ltd on 2 May 2023) - this change is yet to be shared with covenantors and he is currently listed as an advisor to the board. Huw Parker is still listed as a member of the board but at Companies House he is listed as having resigned on 31 December 2023. This is despite an article welcoming new board member Wayne Kyte.

 

The NVR drivers experiences have been postponed to the first week of September, which as it stands right now if all goes the way it sounds like it is the Tornado event comes first then the week after comes the drivers experience

 

I am still very sceptical that she will appear there at all in the next few weeks.

 

I think the speculation going on here regarding next weekend's NVR event is unhelpful. My understanding is Tornado will be arriving in the next day or two. Given the discussion around the appeal that the NVR has released, I think undermining confidence in the event being run is not a fair thing to do.

 

Tornado has not turned a wheel yet. Indeed, has the boiler inspector given it a final OK?

 

If he has the Trust are keeping it very quiet, which would be totally out of character for them.

@Matthew Alden Farrow I’m sure everyone is very sympathetic to the NVR’s plight, but raising the awareness of the Trust’s long suffering supporters is also important given the board’s reluctance to engage in an open and honest dialogue with us over the course of Tornado’s long over-running overhaul.