New Build Night Owl - 4709 Begins

Well, to start with I guess it would be a sort of green, although I have seen colour photos of 47xxs in BR black! Even I won't be foolish enough to suggest a livery!

 

Well there aren't that many choices are there: GWR Lined Green with Great Q Western, GWR unlined green, BR Lined Green with late crest, BR Lined Black and BR Unlined black are the only historical combinations I can work out from RCTS, although wartime black might also be an option...

 

GWR unlined Green is three options Jimc - GREAT WESTERN, GWR (Shirtbutton) and GWR!

I'll get back inside my box now - for the record, I don't care what colour it'll be!

 

Paint froth...

One thing's for sure; this one's got much more of a chance of success than some of the 'flights of fancy' that have appeared in recent months.

This may not be everyone's 'cup of tea', but it does fill a hole in the GWR story, the telling of which is the GWS' raison d'etre, of course.

 

Looks like her frames will be on public display for the first time at SSS3.

 

that's not the only thing. I have heard from a friend that the driving wheel pattern has already been made as well. Not sure if it Will be on display at llangollen or not tho.

Gav

 

Saw the frames in Llangollen works yesterday morning. The extension frames have been put in place to give an idea of the total length - it's massive !

Bob.

 

Yes, another large GWR loco, more powerful than any preserved railway needs!

The frames are now in the shed at llan with the extension frames and buffer beam from the 41.

Its a bl**dy big space taken in our she! So I hope the do get it finished pretty quick!

 

Shouldn't this appear within the "New builds - how many will ever really work?" thread?

Although the GWS has a pretty good track record of completing projects the unanswered question remains "will it ever work". A monstrous engine is never going to do any "work" chuffing up and down Didcot's demonstration line and its power will never be tested on those few heritage lines who's track would accommodate such a ponderous beast.
Surely a better way of completing the story of GW loco history would be in model form.
The mention of how much space the frames occupy at Llangollen, alongside the other "kit-bashing" and new builds raises more questions than answers on the sanity of the project. Whilst the shed at Llangollen is large, it is far from easy to work there as the place is so crowded. Perhaps these outside project pay a premium for shed space compared with those engines domiciled there.
I'm sorry to be a nay-sayer but this engine has an ever weaker business case than some of those it is in the company of. In my view, the leaders of this project have lost the plot entirely and have more money than sense.

I will now await the wrath of the armchair experts and those whose penile magnitude rests upon the success or failure of this project.

 

I remember a mock wail from my days in the bike trade...

"B****y customers, filling up our shop, buying our stock, filling up our till (can't remember how it progressed, but never mind)

The point was it was a joke, because customers make pay days possible, or, if you like, customers subsidise facilities.

 

This has already been done in at least 5", 7.25" and 10.25" gauge to my knowledge.

Stephen

 

I wonder would anyone regard Tornado as anything less than the "real" thing now? Press on with your replicas Lads, they'll all be loved once they are built.

 

Well you've answered your own question there in whether it will work? Or did you mean whether it will be truly tested to its maximum capabilities?

Why? The GWS is mainly made up of Standard Gauge locos last time I visited. They are not your local model engineering club, and as has been mentioned there are various miniature 47XX already. A 10 1/4 visited SSS1 at Llangollen IIRC. Anyway, some would argue its a 1:1 scale model seeing as it's not an original 47XX.

Really? Like what?

Or as they are paying LR Engineering to do the work LRE has a duty of care to the project whilst their services are being paid for?

Where's your evidence to support that opinion of yours? Have you ever met/spoken to any of the guys working on this project? Clearly not going off your posting, otherwise you would be aware of the amount of background work done for this including looking into the feasibility of it.

A new build project will only succeed if it can persuade enough people to part with their cash to complete the loco in question. 4709 has got a head start due to the number of secondhand components available, and is now catching up on those new builds that have already begun. It was only last October work got heavy on 4709, and after 6 months she has already raised over £50k and she has her main frames, extension frames, 3 wheelsets plus the pattern for a fourth, hornties, hornguides, cylinder block. The list goes on.

I said in my first posting this project would fly, and she is doing just that. Just because one person doesn't like the sound of something doesn't make it impossible.

 

According to the leaflet, she's to be built to mainline standards, so surely the ideal loco for the Devon banks, as the GWR never built any 28xx GT's unlike the LMS with their 8F*'s balanced for faster running? I'd love to see this one fly!

 

Good luck telling Dennis Howells he's lost the plot. Though he may have heard it all before when he started on R93 and 6023... Not forgetting 9466 either which has successfully operated on the mainline.

Oh and I also found this on Google.
http://modelengineeringwebsite.com/GW_47xx.html

 

The workshop looks quite impressive with 6880 on one road & the Patriot & 47xx on the next.

Bob.

 

Does anyone have a photo of the 47xx frames laid out please? Would be interesting to see.

 

Just a quick idea/question, really...

If 4709 makes the main line, how about a revised tender? I'm thinking a broad outline Collet 4,000 gallon, but a bogie set-up, with say, 6,500 gallons on board. It would 'stretch' the loco profile, and make it into an even more impressive beastie.

That's 29 tons of water, BTW. I reckon a bogie tender would be working at around 13.5 tons per axle, all up.

Ian