141R1332 to the UK!

The frames of 141R1332 have been imported into the UK by William Cook for exhibition in one of their factories. 141R1332 was one of three 141Rs which were stored in Winterthur after an aborted restoration by SLM. 141R73 and 141R1207 are now under cover in Vallorbe, along with the working 141R568. They will be used for spares or restored.

1
41R1332's tender and boiler were scrapped some time ago.

https://swissclassictrain.ch/2024/10/29/141r-1332-nouveau-depart/

 

What a sad story; it almost seems like the French equivalent of the Binbrook Crab. I presume there is now no hope of a rebuild for this loco, and it's simply that the remains will be conserved?

 

I'm sure someone is planning a Facebook page with GoFundMe appeal as we read...

 

The fully welded steel-fire-box was about same size as Tornado and many worked very well.
A pity it was scrapped.

 

It could have been worse; the former owner was threatening to cut up all three 141Rs at Winterthur. It seems that 141R1332's boiler was damaged before it went to Switzerland. Some of the remains of 1332 will no doubt be used for the other three 141Rs.

This is 141R1332 when it was stored at Jarnac, Charente. It was one of the last 141Rs in service with SNCF at Vierzon.



141R73 was once at Bressingham.

 

So the French engineers know what they were doing. You say that "many worked very well". What about those that didn't?

 

Not much French in the engineering of the 141R, an American product in their boilers and mechanicals. I guess 1332 had the cast steel bed of the later series, which will be why it's of interest to William Cook; a pretty impressive example of foundry work.

Edit: the French did make excellent use of water treatment to prolong the life of steel fireboxes, both on domestic examples and the 141Rs.

 

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Of course, the Bulleid Pacifics also had the same French TIA system.

 

This was when the damage to 141R1332's boiler was done, at Conflans-Jarny in the 1990s:

 

Cruelty to living creatures is horrible, but this ?
Is there a story for steam believers/lovers?

 

I think that the heading to this thread is a bit misleading - it should read "A bit (or component) of SNCF 141R1332 is heading to the UK! It seems to consist of just the frame and cylinders, not even any wheelsets, axleboxes etc. Interesting, but only to a degree.

 

In biology at school, and in medicine, we learn from dissection of dead organisms, and we don't normally reassemble them and try to make them work again afterwards! - this is no different.

 

Even in the light of the post above, I'm still asking myself - why?

 

Because the frames/cylinders etc. are a single casting. What does William Cook specialise in? I hope that answers your question!

 

But they didn't cast it...?

 

I guess its an impressive example of what used to be done; I don't think it's an example of what could be done now!

 

I would suggest a monobloc casting for a certain Gresley locomotive in dire need of one would be a good starting point, but as the NRM doesn't appear to be interested in running things any more...

Agreed - to cast both frames and cylinders is quite impressive but a single piece casting; what happens when one bit cracks or wears?

 

.................get the welding rods out................

 

US practice was to cast the loco bed complete with cylinders as a single unitary part, and virtually all (if not all) of the American superpower locos followed this practice.

The largest unitary loco bed casting ever poured was for the world's largest passenger locomotive, the Pennsylvania Railroad's unique 6-4-4-6 S-1 duplex. The casting incorporated all four cylinders and valves and was 77 ft 9.5 in (23.7 m) long and weighed 97,620 lb (44,280 kg).

The casting that is the subject of this thread, whilst impressive, is puny in comparison.

The US practice of cast beds is a problem for the group working towards a new-build PRR T-1 4-4-4-4 duplex since nobody has the expertise and facilities to produce the patterns and cast a replica of an original cast bar-frame bed. I believe the stated intent is to build a fabricated frame instead. Even this will not be without significant problems.