Bulleid Pacifics - Past or Present

Swanage Railway stopped using 35027 because of the condition of its boiler. Southern Locos sold it.

 

I never understood how Swanage ran 35027 seeing as it was out of service for a few years at the Bluebell.

 

They also ran the T9 after she left the MHR but I can't remember if her boiler ticket was still current?

 

Yes it was, they had it for the last year or so of it's ticket...I think.

 

Thanks I couldn’t remember if she had a boiler ticket extension.

 

Can I have the phone number for your coal merchant - thats a good price

 

That's about what we (Middleton) paid for our last load in October. £135 (ex pithead) plus leading.

 

Bluebell stopped using 35027 before the end of the "10 years". Some boilerwork was done to get it through 3 years at Swanage. Until the Boiler Inspector called it a day.

 

Could this be the reason why 35027 is in the state it is in now?

 

Once the fire has been initially built up the Light Pacifics (WC's/BB's) can be fired relatively lightly dependent, of course, on the size/weight of train and the gradients; However the Merchant Navy requires a much heavier fire whatever the size of train and is not so economical. In the end it all depends upon what you are trying to do with the engine, and how good the crew are!

 

Isn't the difference just grate area? I'm not sure why a MN would need a thicker fire than a WC for the same duty?

 

The grate area is, of course, part of it but the MN has a greater pull on the fire as well. You can fire a Merchant thinly but you have to keep filling the holes and be very accurate with the shovel. I have done it at Swanage with 35027 (I don't think my relief was too happy though, having to build a back end for the next trip!) but I think you shovel just as much coal in the end with little respite. For most heritage railways a WC/BB is the more economic and can be fired relatively lightly without resorting to a very thin fire i.e a lower back and sides rather than flat. In my experience with 35027 you had to have a reasonably big back end & sides plus reasonable depth across the front otherwise she would go off the boil, of course this could have been individual to that engine but ex Bournemouth footplatemen of my acquaintance reckoned that was common for the class.

 

it really depends on the engine in question, 35005 didnt seem to be much heavier on coal than Swanage , but saying that, swanage liked a thicker fire than Bodmin the main difference was that you had to swing that little bit more to reach the corners of the box , especially when filling up the back corners but it didnt seem to use any more coal over a days running than any other large loco and as you had more in reserve didnt have to be worked so hard as say one of the mogols used to be so i dont agree that a MN would be too heavy on coal to be a worthwhile preserved railway engine where you have a decent length of running line

 

So to recap, the current state of play regarding the MNs (pending the usual caveats/excusing the odd inaccuracy) should be as thus:

35005 Canadian Pacific: Pending commencement of overhaul in medium/long-term
35006 Peninsular and Oriental S. N. Co.: Final stages of restoration for use on heritage line (GWSR)
35009 Shaw Savill: Preliminary works prior to restoration to mainline standard alongside 35027
35010 Blue Star: Stored pending commencement of restoration, new cylinder fund ongoing
35011 General Steam Navigation: Stored pending projected long-term restoration alongside 35025, requires new centre driving wheel, preventative maintenance being undertaken
35018 British India Line: Recently sold, rumoured to be going to Bury for completion of restoration
35022 Holland America Line: Preventative maintenance following donation of boiler to 35027 and study into possible future restoration project in its own right
35025 Brocklebank Line: Long-term restoration project for potential mainline running, undertaken alongside 35011
35027 Port Line: Under overhaul to mainline standards using components from 35022
35028 Clan Line: Operational
35029 Ellerman Lines: Sectioned at York; projected move to 'Station Hall'?

Leaving out 35029, and if this list is taken as read, a potential 80% of the preserved class members could be restored over the next three decades. That's not bad, is it?

 

Martin says that CanPac was not much heavier on coal than Swanage. I hope he's wrong, because it was way heavier than both Bodmin and Wadebridge, so that doesn't bode well for 34105, which I haven't had the pleasure of working. Should be able to directly compare 105 and 007 in a few years time - although 007 will be past its best by then I suppose.
My own opinion is that MNs are too big for preserved lines really, and the wider firebox makes them really unpleasant in hot weather. WC/BB are pretty good though. I think all the Bulleids are a bit heavier on coal than smaller, simpler locomotives that can still get the job done. Be pretty boring if we only used those though.

 

Surprising how many differences there are between 34007 and 34105. I took this photo a few weeks ago and noticed a few items straight away. Does anyone know of any other differences?

http://lee.mediaobjects.co.uk/p69130062.html

Smoke box door handle location
Conduit for electrical lamps
Shed plate location
Battery box

 

I was cleaning on 34105 when she was first brought down into the yard the shedplate and numberplate were very faded on her so we quickley went over them,the bolts were the shedplate would be is level with were 34007's is, so thats why they were in a differant place just trying to make the old girl look nice we fould it amazing how well the paint job did look when we cleaned her up, almost looked as good as 007's! apart from inparts (tender!)

850LordNelson

 

34007 has an 8ft 6ins cab and 34105 has a 9ft cab. Originally they would have been fitted with tenders of different water capacity, 4500 gallons and 5500 gallons respectively.

 

34105 Always was heavier on coal than its classmate 34016 i would put 35005's coal usage somewhere in the middle or on a par with it ,but on 5 bogies you had so much in reserve that you could run on a fairly thin fire as long as you kept the back and sides covered if anything the cab was cooler than 34105, which on a hot summers day was almost unbearable at times but any Bulleid on a hot day would leave you feeling de hydrated by the time you had reached medstead