35009, Shaw Savill

Is there an echo in here?

Noel

 

A rumour quoted on another forum suggests that the new 'Crewe Works' (presumably the former Crewe Diesel Depot) is the new premises. Some sort of tie up between Ian Riley and Jeremy Hosking being suggested.

 

That would be an interesting development in several ways if Riley's effectively merged with and then managed lnwr heritage. Perhaps the ambitions for volume of work may make this a necessary amalgamation.
It also gives scope to retain specialisms for boiler and mechanical from the constituent businesses depending on where their respective best skills are seen to be.

 

Would the Bluebell be interested? This is the issue. One would have thought that when the owners/owning groups of 35011 and 35025 were looking round for new homes, they would have at least contacted the obvious preserved lines (Bluebelll, Mid Hants, Swanage) as being based at any one of these lines would surely have been a better option than being stuck in a field in Kent. I can't dpeak with any authority for these lines, but from what I know of the Bluebell's loco policy, the plan is to have only one of the three Class 7 or above locos in working order at any given time. A class 4 (e.g., a BR 80xx 2-6-4T) is still the ideal loco for theBluebell, even with the longer line and the new 1 in 55 hump. A Bulleid or the 9F is still a slight case of overkill from a motie power point of view, even though the big engines do generate some extra interest. With 34059 due to emerge in two years' time and 92240 being a relatively straightforward overhaul when the tme is right, the openings for another big engine, such as a Merchant Navy would be very limited for a very long time.

 

When the original of 35011 (and I think 35009 as well) had them at Brighton he made a notorious quote that he'd rather scrap them than take them to the Bluebell. Not quite sure what had upset him so much about the Bluebell but he clearly had some beef!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I expect 21C123 Blackmoor Vale is more likely to be overhauled before 92240, since some of the parts for new firebox have already been manufactured - new thermic syphons,the foundation channel corners and side sections, and the Bulleid Society is raising funds.

 

I totally agree. Good to see one arrive at the head of a main line charter or perhaps as a guest engine in some future gala, but the Bluebell has more than enough locos.

On further reflection about cutting these engines up, apart from 42859, the ex-Barry locos dismantled thus far have either been bought for the specific purpose of being turned into something else (e.g., 4942), bought specifically for spares (e.g., 3612) or part of the "Barry 10." Of the latter, the prospect of seeing as many as four in steam (6686, 5539, 44901, 80150), albeit not for quite some time, is better than many of us would have expected. The point is, however, that these engines were not rescued by an individual or owning group who were prepared to invested time and money into restoring them to working order. Their future prospects were always a bit vague and often subject to change. I am therefore sad, but not surprised that 2861, 4115, 48518 and 7927 have bitten the dust. By contrast, owners of other locos who have recognised they had bitten off more than they could chew have taken some effort to ensure they are sold on to people who are really committed to restoring their engines and have the resources to do so. I had a run nine days ago behind 4270, which is a classic example of an engine which could easily have been written off as a no-hoper when it was rusting away at the Swansea Vale Railway. Admittedly, not every clapped-out wreck can be rescued by Jeremy Hosking, but look at the "Blaenavon Five" - 4253 and 3855 are making good progress and work is beginning on 2874 at Toddington. The owner, as far as I can gather, recognised he was never going to restore them but took great care when selling them on to ensure they were to have a future. My guess is that if the owners of 35011 and 35025 also decide that their projects are beyond them, having invested so much in these engines (transportation costs, for starters, and in the case of 35025, quite a bit of preliminary work), they would be very reluctant to see their engines sold for scrap. This still doesn't answer the question as to who is likely to take these projects on and I can't think of any obvious lines or individuals. Even the longest, steepest lines don't require 8P motive power. Still, as there is no sign of the owners of wither of these two engines throwing in the towel, it could be a few years before there are any developments. But who knows? In five or ten years time, one of today's young steam enthusiasts may have become somewhat richer than he is now and decide he'd quite fancy owning and restoring an MN. We'll have to see.

 

Pass me a decent lottery win. I'd restore the pair of them, MNs are my favorite. I suppose I would have to buy a house and a car or something first (keep the missus happy), as I won't have any money left once I'd done up a steam engine!

 

Oi, get in the queue!

 

An well you need a Euro Lottery win on the scale of the Scottish couple a few years ago. Then you could set aside an amount and even the annual interest would probably pay the restoration costs for them both.!

 

161 Million wasn't it?! I'd buy a 9f and give network rail a backhander to run it on the big railway at the same time...!

We all need to start doing the lottery!! :O)

 

I'd more than happily join/start a group to stat getting funds together to buy the locos aswell aswell as 35009

 

This might sound like a dumb suggestion but has anyone actually thought about acquiring or supporting an engine via this community? A 'national-preservation' engine could be a good advert for preservation as a whole, and if it was worked out properly and supported well it could be a lovely way to bring the community together..and a simple web poll to decide what colour to paint it would remove 46 pages of livery debate hehe

Admins - has this ever been suggested before?!

 

Maybe you could use the title "The Merchant Navy National Preservation Society" I think that has a very good ring to it and provide regular updates ( I love seeing how things change) and we do need some new young blood to help with the preservation movement we do

 

Not a bad idea. We don't only need new blood though. Although I'm comparing apples and oranges here to some extent, look at the various threads on this forum which cover progress on some locomotive projects, especially some of the new-builds. It seems to me that the ones that are succeeding are those which market their product well. There has to be a similar marketing campaign for the MNs for a good chance of succeeding. It also has to be a long-term project and must be good enough to attract funding whilst attracting enough funding to be good enough, and thereby hangs the tale! The alternatives of course include extremely wealthy backers (who will probably want a "what's in it for me" clause) or, as mentioned in an earlier post, a massive lottery win. (BTW I recall getting flamed a while ago on Nat Pres when the Scottish couple won over £160 million and I suggested writing to them for financial support for railway projects. I understand that I need not have made such an obtuse suggestion as newspaper reports allege that a considerable amount of their winnings might have gone towards the Scottish Independence campaign - so it was thrown away anyway - we can't afford to lose Scotland, it produces very good engineers, particularly locomotive engineers!)

 

It actually is quite a good suggestion

 

I'm happy to lend my management and web development skills to any such project should enough people be interested...

 

Whilst its a good idea, its going to be beset with problems, Ian Riley apart , are the current owners of 35025 or 35011 going to be willing to sell, then where do you base it for restoration, i know where i would, Eastleigh assuming the owners of the works could be brought on board behind such an project but what about northern based supporters? , then how do you finance it? only way has to be to sign up people to monthly payments, and it has to transend preservation rivalies, for instance could you get different location based restorers working together ? then do you go mainline from day 1 or base it on a preserved railway to iron out any bugs first