5029 Nunney Castle now at Wiliton.

5029 Nunney Castle was seen being hauled dead through Washford from Minehead to Wiliton by BR(W) 2-6-2T 4160 on Wednesday 051011.

 

5029 Nunney Castle moved LE and support coach from Wiliton to Bishops Lydeard on 051111. Does anyone know what is happening to her from there.

 

According to the 5029 website, a transfer to Tyseley this month. <BJ>

 

Understand the move to Bishops Lydeard on Saturday was so it could use the inspection pit in the loco compound.

 

5029 is due to depart by rail for Tyseley on Thursday 10 November.

David

 

I was happy to read that. I was beginning to wonder if nunney was going to be wintering at WSR.

 

Nunney Castle reported through Bridgwater at 09:37 en route to Tyseley. Ta 47840chaser. <BJ>

 

En route through Moor Street on time.

Castle in the City by littlenobby, on Flickr

 

You must of been standing in the gallery with me Tom!, nice effort.

 

How come the air brake equipment (westinghouse pump?) has been mounted so prominently on Nunney castle? I have noted it on a few others recently, tangmere, britannia etc. Most main line steam engines owners/operators that have them have made a pretty good job of hiding the air brake gubbins, it seems a bit of a shame as it really does stick out like a sore thumb! I was wondering if it was a space issue but They cant be that dissimilar in terms of space to a black five for hiding the equipment? Can they?

Chris

 

I think the reason on 5029 is twofold, one as you suggest, there is little space on a Castle to hide the thing, and secondly (and this goes for 34067 & 70000 too), it's easier to get at the thing and put it right when it goes wrong, rather than having to crawl underneath and between frames and such like.

Also a Castle has an extra pair of cylinders between the frames which a Black Five doesn't.

 

Seems sensible from the repair angle and on reflection I guess its probably quite tight between the frames! Im sure I read somewhere or was possibly told about a couple of locos having them wedged between the tender frames?- I suppose with western tender being a wee bit lower profile its not quite as easy to tuck it away at the back ala clan line. Still, seems a bit of a shame!

Chris

 

I seem to recall reading about an idea to put an Air Pump for 6023 on the Loco's Tender, however since then i've yet to see any evidence it will get Air Brakes at all now, the lack of associated pipework on the bufferbeams suggests she might stay Vac Only now.

Personally IF 6023 was to rceieve Air Brakes, i think the best idea would be to copy 6024's system, despite some problems early on, it has largely behaved itself for a number of years now.

 

The reason for the air pump's position on the loco is purely a matter of space. In between the frames of a Castle there are two sets of valve gear, about 2ft of space to lubricate the big ends and eccentrics, a frame stretcher, a large vacuum cylinder and the firebox. There is simply no room for such a thing. If the pump requires some attention then its is in an ideal place. I'm sure a few photographers don't like it but hey, let's face it, they aren't paying for a day out behind the loco.

I wouldn't say the airpump is that prominent - half of it is below the running plate. If it was placed any lower it would be impossible to remove the valve on that side without taking the pump off first. I think if Castle's had received air pumps during the days of steam view would have been a lot more prominent (think 6000 before it went to the USA). The pump on 5029 is the same as 6024s, 34067s, 6233s, 45407s (to name a few) and is from Poland and not made by Westinghouse.

 

If you don't have access to view under a Castle to see how little room there is between the frames, due to the inside cylinders and all their associated connecting rods and valve gear, I would recommend a visit to Steam at Swindon where 4073 Caerphilly Castle is on display over a loco pit with public access. There is just about room to fit an air pump in, but it would be very difficult to work on it if there was a fault.

 

There really isn't room. The only way I could see a Castle having an air pump between the frames would be to remove the vacuum system and make the engine air only, putting the pump in place of the vacuum cylinder. There really is no space for both inside.

 

Is the use of the tender as a place to mount it a possibility?

 

That is the last thing you would want to do really, it makes the loco far less flexible, especially on heritage lines. Also means the loco brakes would have to be converted to air. Look at Scotsman, that was air only & is now had vacuum re-instated to make it more usable. Another related question, do the Kings have more space between the frames than a Castle? They have the same layout between the frames but I think 6024's pump is inside the frames.

 

I know that has been done with 35028, but it would be at the expense of water (& coal?) capacity. Bearing in mind a GWR tender is a lot smaller than a Bulleid one.

 

As 'buseng' mentioned putting it in the tender would lose you a lot of water space, and converting to air only simply isn't an option.

Before anyone starts asking, 5029s will stay on the outside for the foreseeable future. The ease of maintenance really does outweigh the aesthetics. It doesn't look that bad anyway....