NRM and Tank locos

Without looking it up, there seem to be very few tank locos in the NRM collection.
There are as far as I know NO large freight tanks although there are several that might be availble for acquisition perhaps? (GWR 2-8-0t and 2-8-2t) Perhaps a GWR 0-6-2t might also tell a story in the collection. A 4575 class would surely fill a gap too.

Is there a reason for this?

 

The locos in the national collection only include 3 ex-GWR locos - 2818 (2-8-0), 'Lode Star' and 'King George 5th'. This to some extent reflects the origins of the NRM in the NE of England. It may also be because Didcot and many others have been very active in the preservation of GWR locos. There are 5 class 4200 and 3 class 5205 2-8-0Ts, 3 class 7200 2-8-2Ts, 9 class 5600 0-6-2Ts preserved, for example. (I can't identify the class 4575 so I don't know if any are preserved - "Preserved Locomotives of British Railways" doesn't list any locos preserved under that class number.)

Regards,
John Webb

 

Yes. We haven't the money to acquire a good tank loco - they are all too useful working or under overhaul on preserved lines.

 

Not so John, bear in mind that the official BTC list was drawn up in London. It might look different if we were to do that exercise now...fantasy National collection time again anyone?

 

What about the dean goods 2516, 4073 Caerphilly Castle and 9400.

 

I don't know all the numbers off hand but it is all the existing small prairies above 4575 (4588 is one) & the 5500 series of which there are quite a few. It is the ones with the sloping side tanks.

 

The NRM have an example of the most important class of tank locos (IMHO !!) - the LSWR M7. She was at the buffer stops in the station display last time I saw her, paired with a beautiful salmon and chocolate liveried LSWR coach, as though she'd just brought a rake in from Clapham Junction as was ready to give a shove at departure time. A Hamilton Ellis picture made real!

Going back a few years, she appeared at the LSWR 150 celebrations at Woking (1988?) and even ran on the MHR (though not in steam), coupled in front of one of the Maunsell moguls (31874?).

"Fantasy NRM Collection", Anthony? That sounds like a fun game! What are the rules? Any loco surviving at the time the BTC set up its preservation committee (or whatever it was called)? When was that? Sounds like a subject for another thread...

 

Was it a bit of an oversight though? I dont think its true they are ALL working or under overhaul...what about 7229 for example? (I take your point about cash though)

I know there are lots of these locos "preserved" but surely one example truly Preserved in museum condition should have found space? After all they take up less room with no tender.

 

If there are several examples running at various locations around the country, is there truly a gap in the national collection at the moment? If, one by one, they fall out of use and get scrapped then there would be a good case for making sure one gets saved as part of the collection, but until that point is reached I can't see much of a case for expending scarce resources at this time. There's also 1442 preserved in "museum condition", even if not part of the national collection.

 

The original post was about lack of tank locos, not GW ones! By my count there are 18 standard gauge tank locos in the collection, ranging from LMS2500 through to Bauxite. Even if you discount the non-mainline locos, such as Shannon, there are still thirteen from either pre-grouping or the big four railways. That's not too bad, is it? OK, there's an argument for more but that can be said for most of the missing classes.

 

Either a Maunsell W or Z class should have been added, indeed, I believe that a Z class almost made it. Imagine if it was given a mainline ticket, and was allowed to bank between Exeter St. David's and Central when preserved steam could still use that route... Maybe even a Urie G16 as an example of a hump shunter. LMS-wise, I'm sure there are no end of South-of-the-Border 0-4-4Ts that could have been preserved, whilst it would have been interesting to see a Thompson L1 class in the metal. As for THAT railway, an 81xx large prairie is a bit of an 'oddity' missing link for fast suburban traffic.

 

It's odd that relatively few 0-6-0s were included in the collection, given that these were the predominant type of tender engine. A Gresley J38 or J39 was a big omission, especially as some J38s lasted till quite late on in BR days.

 

A Claude Hamilton is a serious omission. Didn't I read that one was marked up to be saved and cut up by accident? a J70 would be great too

 

Isn't "Tiny" (in SDR museum) part of the National Collection?

Talking of tank engines, is 4248 (representing an under restoration loco at Steam, Swindon) now part of the collection, or is it on loan from its previous restorers?

 

Indeed it was about all tanks but the ones that did make it are almost all specialist locos and theres a huge lack of run of the mill goods engines (including tender 0-6-0s I agree). 4248 I had forgotten but its hardly a museum quality exhibit.

Expanding the theme a little, Standards are very poorly represtented too

 

Why is it not a museum quality exhibit? It is there to show an engine in works, which considering it is in the works is entirly appropriate. A museum should not just be about the finished product but include a lot of background information. As to a tank engine taking less room than a tender engine all I can say is that some tank engines are very long and there are short tender engines!

 

Sorry for my omissions in the list of GWR locos that are part of the National Collection - I was looking in the current 'Railways Restored' and clean forgot the table of 'Items away from the NRM' a couple of pages further on!

Regards,
John Webb