GWR 'Dean Goods' no. 2516 - suggested restoration in Steam Railway issue no. 401

so with Didcot and Pontypool's boilers. there's potential for two, there's probably at least 2 tender frames/wheels out there that could be used ?..
how much difference in price (apart from the materials) would it be to build two at the same time ?.. did A1ST once say the cost of building 60163.. they could have also built 60164 at the same time for not much difference in price.

 

It's a point worth considering, a Dean Goods would be a good asset to a line that runs about load 5 with not too severe gradients, only sticking point would be, what line in that situation would ever have the money to finance/buy such a new build ?,

I suppose if the same people built two side by side, you could have one touring round various lines as a few intresting loco's do at gala times, but I only think there would be demand for one for this purpose which begs the question how do you make the other pay for itself ?.

 

Appears you are correct, looking at the photos in LI Iss. 55 both classes appear the same. Trawling the net has produced a table listing boiler types, O being for Standard Goods and P for Dean Goods. external difference being 9" in barrel length. Could this be the boiler type at Didcot? Even if they are the same boiler type, what about an Armstrong class 0-6-0, did any of those carry P class boilers?

 

Excellent, that genuinely puts forward the concept of batch production, if Didcot could liaise with NR and purchase the boiler off of the lease - I doubt NR would want to keep it if ever they reclaimed the shed if and when the lease expires (but here's hoping Didcot can buy their land soon).

Not one, but two Dean Goods?! I reckon uses could be found for them fairly easily. Whilst they won't have quite the pull of a pannier, with less weight on the driving wheels, they won't be far behind I bet - and Pannier's are ridiculously strong!

 

When BR removed the section of track infront of KGVs shed thus trapping it inside, people turned out to relay the missing section and to PULL her out of her shed! I'd be up for some demolition !

Great Western.

 

'KING GEORGE V' LOCO - British Pathé

Why do commentators always describe loco by name with the word "the"?

 

Excellent, thank you for posting that!

Great Western.

 

It gets more complicated than that... Boiler class swaps were quite common too. I'm still looking for the appropriate RCTS volume with the Dean 6 wheel locos, but from Russell although the 2361s were built with a slightly longer boiler (3" longer than the P Class), by the end of their lives some if not all were carrying the standard P class boilers. AIUI most classes with Standard (Armstrong) Goods (O) or Sir Daniel (Q) class boilers seem to have ended up with P class boilers if the class remained in service long enough. The 1134 class outside framed pannier tanks carried all three types over the course of their career, but I don't have any data on whether any 388s (Std/Armstrong Goods) ever carried the P class. The withdrawal dates for the 388s suggest its possible that they didn't.

 

I don't know...they seem to as often as not use it when they needn't and not use it when they need to!

 

Stop that right now! You'll make me have an accident



(original source: Birmingham Snow Hill Station: Great Western Railway 1016 class 0-6-0PT No 1047 at platform No 6 with a down local on 9th July 1912 - Warwickshire Railways)

P.

 

At this rate by 2040 we'll have a full GWR set from North Star right through to the last 94XX/Castle

 

Now that would be cool to see...

 

" Build two side by side" ? not sure if that would be the right way to do it, make 2 sets of everything yes but build one first iron out the snaggs then using what you have learn from the first, then build the second member so that it comes out half way though the boiler ticket of the first one , that way you can hire one out to raise funds to pay for its overhaul in 5 years time , plus you could always do the second as a different varient of the class that way you have two different engines to market

 

Snags, Martin? With such a relatively simple engine I'd hope we'd be able to get the first one right at the outset! hwell:

As for variants.... a ROD pannier version maybe? :fear: I'd love to see the original round-topped boiler type but given that the starting point for this project would be a pair of belpaire boilers I guess that ain't going to happen.... yet....

Foxy

 

I think this is all amazing and I appreciate Anthony Coulis, at the very least, unlocking the door on this. I think having 2516 in steam on heritage goods trains would be hugely popular but not at the expense of overhauling Truro.

Let's say what we want here: both! But it will be up to us to pay for it. The NRM are being cut like everywhere else in the public sector so if we want it, lets start saving for it.

My blogs on this subject are at http://everythingGWR.com

all the best
Howard

 

First of all, howabout swopping Truro for 2516, Truro isnt going to be steamed again for several years and Steam would not argue with this swop, then if 2516 can be extracted, and moved to york she can then be assessed to see what state she is in and what work is needed for preserved railway only, not mainline . she has been stored in heated museums since withdrawal, ans so should be in fair condition assuming she was in good condition when preserved, the best option would be that york loan her to either didcot or bridgenorth for 10 years once she steams and that way, won't cost the NRM anything to restore, if york try to do it, i can foresee funding problems

 

several other places would be a suitable home other than Bridgenorth (Didcot goes without saying!) I hope it happens (in fact if it were just released for DISPLAY at Didcot I'd be happy.

 

It's a big job to get it out...anyone like to put a price on that?

 

Having seen City of Truro literally bumped on and off low loaders, thrashed up and down a variety of unsuitable lines & noted the appearance of non authentic fittings and gauges on it I have to say that 2516 should be left just where it is now if a similar approach to the Dean risked being adopted.
The fact that CoT is now out of ticket is in some ways a blessed relief for this important member of the national collection.

If there is support for a Dean Goods then it should be directed towards developing and implementing a scheme using the boiler at Blaenavon (the only suitable one apart from 2516). Compared to other schemes this one is straightforward once you have stumped up for wheels and cylinders as many of the other bits are fairly standard GW.