45699 Galatea

45690 for Sale to me does not seem correct. Is Chris Beets still the owner?

 

As far as we know, 45690 hasn't changed hands a sale of that sort of loco causes a few ripples. Look at how much froth there was on here recently when 1306 & 60532 were sold.

 

The most visible differnce is the position of the hand rails: half way up the boiler on a 5X and three-quarters up on a Black Five. Additionally, the 5Xs had splashers (yes, so did the Capprotti Fives, but there's little chance of confusion there); the 5X running plate where it falls to buffer beam level is vertical on a 5X, stepped inwards on a Five, and the 5X chimney is taller, while many ran with Fowler 3,500 gallon tenders, no Black Five ever did.

 

Bradford must be the city with the most reduced railway infrastructure since steam days?

 

Try Dudley! Dosn't even have a railway anymore!

 

Try Wells - a city that once had three stations and a Bulleid pacific, and now only has the Bulleid ... I suspect the nearest mainline station now is Castle Cary, about 14 miles away.

Tom

 

Thanks - so they aren't so easy to distinguish after all! When I was looking at photos before my slightly tongue-in-cheek comment, it was the splashers that seemed to me the one really distinguishing feature, especially as colour isn't necessarily very apparent on dirty locos in black and white photos.

Tom

 

I agree that Wells with no railway is much reduced but the loss of stations, lines, sidings, yards etc. is not of the same magnitude as Bradford's.

 

I don't think Dudley is a city. But even so I don't think the loss of infrastructure is as great as Bradford's.

 

No Dudley isn't a city but I think its the largest town in the UK now without a railway station. Although this will change if Stourbridge- Walsall reopens.

 

Don't understand this about Bradford. It has still got both stations. What has changed is the loss of direct services beyond Leeds. That type of service loss has happened to a number of towns and cities.

 

Derry/Londonderry - used to have 4 stations, now only has 1 (and even it has been moved from its original site)

Keith

 

One would think that 45699 would be needed before the Waverley runs in July/August. I would guess that this would make the 8f busier.

 

Bradford will never get a decent set of railway services until someone bites the bullet and unites the two lines. The Midland got an Act before WW1 but built the southern part (from Royston Junction) but then chickened out.

 

Seems odd to me that WCRC would get rid of 45699 ahead of 48151. I don't think David Smith is known for sentiment, even though 48151 was his first engine, and I would have thought 45699 is much less limited in what it can do in terms of fitting in on the modern railway.

 

As my honourable friend has already commented- I thought they did too...

 

Already this has become a done deal yet it has only been mentioned as a rumour, perhaps wait for some first hand facts before making comments like this based on a friend heard........

I don't think I'm disagreeing about 45699, logic says it would be a strange decision.

 

Quick shot of 45699 in light steam at Carnforth yesterday at the end of the video . Not my shot .

 

My original whimsical question resulted from the previous post reminding me of the changes to the railways in West Yorkshire since the 1950s. I was referring to the total railway infrastructure, not passenger services. A simple example element would be the replacement of Bradford Exchange station, a 10 platform, traditional, Victorian terminus, with Bradford Interchange, a bus station with a couple of railway platforms attached. For an idea of what has gone have a look at http://www.lostrailwayswestyorkshire.co.uk/

Having thought about it more, I have modified my opinion. Top of my list is now Liverpool but the question is nebulous; parameters such as city boundaries and others need to be defined.