MHR Restorations and Overhauls

No idea, I hope she doesn't as she looks brilliant as a tender locomotive.

 

"And Chris, thats about it, thats what i've heard, that 31806 will go to Swanage, she after all has what 5 years left on her ticket, 31625 also but later , but nothing on 31874, i;ve heard talk of flower mill doing the boiler on 31625 hense why i think she may be going mainline, but if,and its only a big if, i expect that she will be swanage based and venture out from there doing bristol runs etc i dont see the U boat doing many long tours, unless its a 4th july 2016 special waterloo to weymouth piloting tangmere, "

31874 will be an expensive and major job wherever she goes. It would be good to see 31625 back on the Main Line but as you say she might only find work as a "pilot engine".

 

I'm sure the Swanage Railway would love to reduce their reliance on SLL. In the past the SR have publicly stated their preference for smaller, more economical locos rather the Bulleid Pacifics which they consider too big. SLLs response to this was to sell 80078 in order to fund yet more Bulleid restorations!

I think if the Us go to Swanage, then SLL will be looking for new homes for some of their locos, and probably a new workshop as well.

 

Ah well then it would make sense for them to go to the Midhants...... A win, win situation!

 

SLL could always go back to Selinge, after all theres still 2 Bulleids sat there with little or no work being done on them
the U class locos are ideal for Swanage, and more economic than any Bulleid but i would hate to see either of the currant working fleet leave, if as expected several of the Bunch Collection are to be based at Swanage, will the mainline locos he has conections with relocate? iam talking about Tangmere, here and Possibly 35018, if so then ,that would open the door to some weymouth to bristol tours

 

Why relocate from Southall when the majority of tours start there?

 

Very unlikely. John Bunch was quoted in one of the magazines a few years ago,stating that most of the support crew for Tangmere live an hours drive from Southall. For the trips from Bristol in the summer the loco and coaches all goes together from Southall for the weekend and returns afterwards for the midweek trips from London to Weymouth.

 

Any idea where the tender came from, is it an original.

 

Why would you do that ? In tender engine form it has greatly increased coal and water capacity

 

Because we are a preservation movement?

Tom

 

If it's being restored to working order is that really an issue? She is still preserved whether she be in saddle tank form or tender.

I am sure the preservation movement can spare one Austerity to be a bit different from the rest, there are around 70 others and I doubt all of them have been returned to working order...!?

In her current form as said she has added coal & water capacity plus offers a unique factor even if it isn't correct. Of course you can't please everyone either way she is overhauled. Some people like her as she is, others hate the idea of her original design being altered. Each to their own.

Perhaps convert 9351 back into a Large Prairie during her current overhaul.... surely it's no different!?

 

But what the Mid Hants needs is a fleet of class 4/5 size locos. Most trains only load to five coaches and a Bulleid is an expensive way of working a train of that size.

 

I have to say, I'm not really a fan of 9351 either!

The more practical issue with a tender version of an Austerity is that you add a lot of extra weight that has to be dragged around, but at the same time reduce adhesion. So I wonder a bit at the practicality.

Anyway, each to their own, I guess...

Tom

 

Wasn't one of the original reasons for converting it to a tender engine to provide more space for footplate training courses? Under those circumstance it makes sense and load hauling capability is not really an issue.

 

It was indeed.

It was also to have another couple of roles such as hauling the goods set and even furthering the conversion by making it a "700 class black motor" lookalike.

Regards
Chris:

 

Not really knowledgeable per say on Southern variants, but whilst I admire the engineering that's gone into the Austerity, how can you turn this:




Into a look-a-like of this?



Same number of wheels - check - but all else…? The tender looks not too dissimilar. Is it to an actual pattern of tender or is it freelance as per the rest of the conversion?

Mind, I'm not knocking it, it is their locomotive to do with as they wish, but if you want to see a Drummond 700 in reality, wouldn't building one from scratch (and looking at measuring up the T9 which shares similar components) a better proposition?

 

i loved the above post by S.A.C. Martin..... so what is the above loco and what are it's origins? and where did the tender come from? looks very much like an extinct LSWR 700 class so all credit to those who did it, would love to know more as havent seen it before! (ok it could be DONALD or DOUGLAS!)
cheers,
julian

 

Well, as per previous posts, its an austerity tank turned into a tender locomotive. That's the depth of my knowledge on that! But I disagree. It's not really similar or otherwise to a Black motor - though a very nice bit of engineering in its own right as I previously say.

The more I look at the tender, the more I want to know about it, because its the only part of that locomotive that bears a great resemblance to something LSWR (in my opinion).

New builds being in vogue and all that, but I do wonder if something like a 700 class could be built.

Again, not knocking Douglas - you have to admire the quality of the conversion.

 

http://southdevonrailway.co.uk/gone-not-forgotten/barbara

Quite an interesting history.

 

I might well be wrong but INMHO the tender looks a bit like a SECR C class.