MHR Restorations and Overhauls

Don't forget that 41312 is very firmly a Southern loco having been delivered new to the Southern and worked the last steam Lymington train etc etc. OK so it is sad that we won't have a Southern mogul, but as a representation of BR(S) steam, the fleet is amazingly good.

 

I personally think the Mid Hants have done brilliantly with getting such a good Southern collection on the line. If Didcot is the home of the GWR fleet you could say the Mid Hants is the home of the Southern fleet espically with the oldest Merchant Navy and light pacific on the books not forgetting the Nelson and Cheltenham.

I know you are a Mid Hants supporter, and therefore biased but I think you have to remember that you can see almost all of these types on the Bluebell as well, not to mention the two Maunesll moguls and the hoste of smaller types as well. I'm not saying that the representation isn't good, but I don't think it is reasonable to call it the best!

 

Quite correct, they are making common parts for the 80150 at the same time as they are being made for 75079 (however that loco is making good progress)!

 

Surely with the MHR being a 1940-50's era railway then the locos are an excellent fit, whereas the bluebell is more 1900-1930's and the locos are more of a fit for that?

 

"They are if you look on a map, they haven't moved....."
astute...very astute

 

On the subject ofthe Mid Hants, is there any chance of an update to the loco roster? Nothing shown since the THomas events.

Thanks

 

hard to see that being the case, given 33001 and 34023, not to mention the odd standard or three and a few Mk1 coaches.

 

Surely with the MHR being a 1940-50's era railway then the locos are an excellent fit, whereas the bluebell is more 1900-1930's and the locos are more of a fit for that?

The Bluebell has a couple of Bulleids and the largest collection of BR standards of any line - it has made a deliberate decision to cover as many eras as possible, including the BR steam era.

 

That does rather betray the common perception that somehow pre-grouping machinery magically disappeared on 31 December 1947 (or 1922, take your pick!) Whereas of course that was far from the case. Of the SECR, LBSCR, LSWR and SR locos on the Bluebell, none is more than a coat of paint away from being able to portray a 1950s appearance!

Tom

 

I love both the MHR and the Bluebell. Maybe we could all agree that the MHR has the best collection of Southern rolling stock in the Alton area (and the Bluebell in the Haywards Heath area)…?



Simon

 

If you start to use the term "rolling stock" then a different can of worms opens up, for clearly the Bluebell's collection of rolling stock is unparalleled! (I should just add here the I am not a Bluebell member or supporter, my preference is for the NYMR, but I do admire the way that they have built, and continue to build, a collection that has a coherent and broad ranging plan to it).

 

You're not helping.



Simon

 

76017 was a southern based loco also, shedded at eastleigh at some point i believe, so in essence you do still have a southern region mogol

 

OT I know, but it's funny how the Maunsell 2-6-0s often get referred to as Moguls, but many others of that wheel arrangement (e.g. the BR 76xxx and 77xxx etc) don't...

Tom

 

Indeed. Tom. there's no consistency. The GWR Churchward 43xxs are often referred to as moguls, and Stanier 42968 has acquired the nickname "The Mighty Mogul" in preservation but the LMS Crabs or "Flying Pig" 2-6-0s don't seem to be referred to as Moguls (open to correction here - only my observation)

Interesting that the latest Steam railway referred to the Polish 2-6-2s at Wolsztyn (OL49s??) as "prairies." The GWR 2-6-2Ts were often so called (both "large" and "small") but again, I've never heard the LMS or BR 2-6-2Ts so described and certainly not the Gresley V2 (Green Arrow) and V4 2-6-2 tender locos.

 

You're not helping.

I just don't like to see partisan claims being made that, to an impartial outside observer, aren't justified. The Mid Hants has a super collection of BR-era locos and rolling stock, but that's where it stops an most of it is duplicated at the Bluebell with the addition of all the earlier stuff, so to anyone rational it will be second best. Having said that, I only wish the NYMR could have as good a representation of BR era LNER/NER locos. We've got about the best we can do but the representation has many notable gaps, such as a V1/V2 , J39, A8, B16 or an L1.

 

The Mid-Hants has tended to end up with more modern/powerful locos because of the gradients I suppose. Remember (30)120 used to be based here too.
The Bluebell does have some superb coaches (as well as a super selection of locos) but they had the advantage of a good head start in the preservation stakes. They have also been kind enough to lend us a couple of Bulleid coaches on long term-loan (currently under restoration)
Also, someone listed a number of locos, but 30506 was missing, this will soon be gracing Mid-Hants metals again. In the meantime I am off to SP in Nov to see 847

Mid Hants Life Member and Volunteer, Bluebell Member (lapsed from 1978, but recently applied for new one0 and happy customer of both railways.

 

And quid pro quo, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing 506! Just a shame that there aren't too many serviceable LSWR carriages to hang behind her - despite the LSWR having done not too badly in terms of ending up with preserved lines (MHR, Swanage, Bodmin ...), that company is definitely the poor relation in preservation with respect the SECR and LBSCR when it comes to preserved and serviceable carriages...

Tom

 

You're not helping.

I just don't like to see partisan claims being made that, to an impartial outside observer, aren't justified. The Mid Hants has a super collection of BR-era locos and rolling stock, but that's where it stops an most of it is duplicated at the Bluebell with the addition of all the earlier stuff, so to anyone rational it will be second best. Having said that, I only wish the NYMR could have as good a representation of BR era LNER/NER locos. We've got about the best we can do but the representation has many notable gaps, such as a V1/V2 , J39, A8, B16 or an L1.[/QUOTE]

Well we've already had Facebook replicas for the V2, J39 and L1 - all now closed as they were based on fantasy. I'm sure there'll be Facebook sites for the others if you mention them a few more times....


Keith

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but go back 34 years to about 1980 and the MHR had a reasonable collection of older coaching stock, certainly more Bulleid coaches than it does now, more ex LSWR coaches as well. But a clear lack of policy at the time coupled with a lack of restoration facilities meant that most of the poorest examples were either broken up, or sold on.
Would these poorest examples be so readily sacrificed nowadays, given the facilities and capabilities that now exist at Ropley?