63601

Details of it's last weekend here:-Special Events | Great Central Railway

 

Is it really "the end" for 63601? She's such a magnificent locomotive, and perfectly suited to the Great Central. Is there no chance of an overhaul in the future, or is this a case of the loan agreement coming to an end as well?

She's been one of my favourites in preservation, and I'll never forget seeing 63601 and 60163 alongside each other in August 2008. One of those surreal mathematical anagrams of each other!

 

I can't find any reference to it now, but I am 99% certain that I've read that she'll be going straight into overhaul on withdrawal for another spell in service at the GCR.

 

Love the advertising of her "roaring" along the track. I've never heard the O4 roar anywhere, just a gentle chug.

 

The official line is in the GCR Press Release today that: "We'll be working closely with the NRM to determine the future for the O4".

However, I'm also sure I read somewhere that they hope for a continuation of the loan agreement with the NRM and the O4 will go to the back of the shed awaiting overhaul. May not be straight away, though as there is a queue of locos such as the Standard 5, Witherslack Hall and Boscastle all at various stages of overhaul.

 

Amended details of 63601's final trains this weekend.

"PASSENGER SERVICES
This will be your last opportunity to ride behind her. The 04 will be hauling passenger services at:

Saturday 12pm ( Only), 2pm, 4pm

Sunday 2pm, 4pm and 5.30pm

On Saturday the 10am service will be diesel hauled and on Sunday the 10am and 12pm service will both be diesel hauled

There are no immediate plans to overhaul 63601 and will be a couple of year's** before she runs again. However the railway are liasing with the National Railway Museum to secure her future at the GCR where she belongs on home territory and having her steaming along the line again as soon as possible.

 

Pride of the Great Central Railway 63601 on her penultimate day in steam before withdrawal. Looking great as ever...

63601 Swithland Sidings Sth 23 06 2012 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

I have just returned from the GCR and a ride on the last trip. Wow, what a ride! A string of detonators placed on the approach to Loughborough was a definitely a fitting send off! Oh, and it was 24 and three quarter miles an hour all the way...

 

Well on behalf of the driver's and fireman and the staff and volunteers who have worked on the loco over the last 12 years, we would like to thank everybody who has been to the railway today to support 63601. As flagship loco of the GCR, she has been a very reliable loco since she first came to steam 12 years ago. But now the end is nigh and the grand old lady of the Great Central Railway can take a well earned break in her retirement!! As has been said before, it will be a few years before she steams again and she will be kept undercover in the shed at her home at the Great Central Railway until we start the next overhaul.

The last trip was very special to a lot of people. The detonators at the end of her last trip on the approach to Loughborough Central was a fitting tribute to the O4 a sad occasion but none the less we hope it will be sooner rather than later for her next return to steam

 

A video (not mine) of an immaculate 63601 literally roaring along the Great Central on her final day at the Great Railway yesterday


Great Central Railway: O4 Farewell 240612 - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1vvTEfitWw

 

hello
a sad day yesterday saying farewell to 63601 after 12 years excellent service she looked immaculate i even managed to capture her three runs in the sun some pictures at
Zenfolio | steam photography
thanks to all those involved

 

I was looking through some online phots yesturday and came across this: 3028 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Which got me thinking, how hard would it be to turn out 63601 as a GWR ROD ?, is there much technically different apart from the safety valves and whistle position ?.

 

This has been discussed before a little.

If you want to cover absolutely everything - not essential, I grant you - you're looking at:

Buffers
Smokebox door - and therefore hinges.
Chimney
Dome
Top Feed
Safety Valve cover (and by extension safety valves as a GW-style cover wouldn't cover the Ross pops currently fitted)
Whistles

Which is quite a lot. Couple this with the NRM's policy of rarely turning out engines as other members of the same class (let alone a somewhat different class as in this instance) and I think the chances are negligible. There were suggestions last time this were brought up of, if ever one or more of the Aussie RODs were repatriated, doing it up like a 30XX. But again I think this would be playing a bit fast and loose with a loco with a fascinating, unique, history of its own.

Much as I'd like to see a 30XX I think I'd rather wait for my lottery numbers to come up than play around with 63601 or one of the Aussies.

 

Thanks Jamie, it was more a hypothetical question I suppose to gather what the changes Swindon made to the standard design.