Locos not saved....

can anyone confirm to me a story i heard about 46235 city of birmingham. the story goes that to enable the museum its based at to fit equipment to enable the wheels to rotate to give a demonstration of "wheels rotating" some parts of the frames were cut away? like i said just something i heard so not sure if true or not. if it is it makes a mockery of the claim of keeping it in as overhauled authentic ex br condition!

 

The rumours about 46235 are just that; rumours. The loco was attached to a system of cables which pulled it forward and back about half a rev of the driving wheels. This was controlled by one of the museum attendants and happened once an hour, on the hour. The full space for forward running can be seen in the nailed on pic.

Regards, Oddsocks.

 

what a waste of a good loco!

 

At least it got some TLC there, the last I heard, at the place it's at nowadays, "THINKTANK", it's seperated from it's tender with a walkway between so that people can see "The Working Environment", and hasn't been cleaned since the day it arrived. "Covered in dust" was the story.

Regards, Oddsocks.

 

Quite agree Oddsocks, it looks terrible with that gap to its tender. I think it's in the name of disabled access, shame they couldn't find a better way.

Dave

 

When the official announcement about the plans for the "rebuilding" of New Street was made public I sent an email to Birmingham City Council suggesting that 46235 would be a splendid advertisement for the city, and a reminder of our countries past engineering prowess if she was put on permanent display on the new plaza of the newly refurbished station.
Sad to say the reply I got was that if she was put on display in an area with so much public access she would end up being vandalised. (In a space on the busiest station in Britain?)
Also that more people would appreciate her where she is in the 'Think Tank'. (Tucked away in a corner where even I had trouble finding her.)
Sad to say, from my personal point of view a very short sighted view of the opportunities putting her on display at New Street would afford the City. As a pointer to our excellent museums we have and just the sheer wow factor of coming off a Pendolino and seeing this magnificent tribute to our railway heritage.
Still, there's no accounting for short sighted bureaucracy.

 

For an allegedly looked after loco in ex BR condition, 46235 is fairly shabby and makes a mockery and socuh claims, pity she can't be entrusted with the people a few miles down the road who actually know about such things.

 

! couldn't possibly comment.:tape2:

 

She's in better nick than 46243. Her smokebox number plate and one nameplate is in Lancaster Museum - the rest is razor blades. Be thankful for small mercies !

 

I read somewhere that each city with a Duchess named after it was offered the namesake loco for display but only Birmingham took up the offer with the others just going for nameplate and numberplate. 46240's was on display in the station when I was last there many years ago.

 

As far as I'm aware, there's a City of Coventry plate on the wall of the stairs at said station, unless it's ben removed?

 

Probably in an April edition of Steam Railway! 46235 was designated for preservation in the list of locomotives drawn up by a consultative panel long before it was withdrawn from traffic. I don't know why this particular loco was chosen, though.

 

In either 1969 or 1970 ,when I was a member of the Liverpool Locomotive Preservation Group, we hired the the 'H' shaped booking hall at Liverpool Central station to hold a model railway exhibition. We were able to borrow some exhibits from Liverpool Museums as long as we insured them against loss. One of the items was the nameplate from 'City of Liverpool'. On the form the insurance value was five pounds !. On reflection we should have lost it.

Bob.

 

Isn't the City of Liverpool plate at the Town Hall? The other plate was part of the John Bourhill Collection and has just been sold at auction for £33,000.

 

We're drifting waaaay off topic, but here's a list of top-selling plates inc. several off "Duchesses" http://www.railwayanapage.com/top_50.htm

 

The story predates SR by several years but doesn't make it true of course.

 

That sounds the more likely scenario I must admit. Can you imaging the main line scene if all of the appeals had a) been successful and b) the city councils more enlightened regarding their loco going main line.

 

i heard that stratford upon avon was offered william shakespeare but they declined that too!

 

But the nameplates used to be at Mary Arden's house