Baby Deltic Project

They're actually going to recreate a class 23 from a 37 and a 20!

http://www.thebabydelticproject.co.uk/#/the-project/4534194461

 

I think 'recreate' is going a bit far, but good luck to them. Since they've got the engine running it'll be great to be able to haul things with it. I can't imagine that it will look more than an approximation of a 23, but hey, the sound's the thing. Maybe we should call it an 'Infant Deltic'

 

I wish them good luck, ive seen footage of the baby deltic engine on youtube, sounds amazing!

 

I wish them well but hope it turns out to be more reliable than the originals.

 

Is this the first "cut-n-shut" job on a railway loco?

This gives me an idea for a BR standard 0-6-0 tank engine (discussed in another thread). Let's get one of the unrestored 2-6-4 tanks and fire up the oxy. Maybe I'll have a go in Photoshop first, if I can find a suitable image ...

Richard

 

They weren't that bad once they had been rebuilt. There was a massive discussion about this 6 years ago, and the leader of this project at the time emphatically said no to a baby rebuild. So glad hes had a change of heart.
Jim

 

I guess there's some quite serious structural work to do here.. shortening the frame, moving the cab, no doubt needing the movement and reloaction of a number of internal fittings and rebalancing the weight.
After all that welding there's the question of structural integrity.
Personally I would have thought extending a class 20's frame and placing the parts may have been easier than shrinking a 37, but then there'd be more work on the body and that 2nd cab to set up, but I'd imagine theyve done their home work. £20k seems cheap to do the job.

However cant wait to see it. Best of Luck guys ! If this works out maybe getting a power unit from a MAN German diesel and rebuilding a Class 21/9 comes next ?

 

Am I missing something here?

My understanding was that the engine 'rebuild' was done on the cheap, and that a number of components were re-used on the basis that the engine was going to be run unstressed as it were. The components would not have been re-used in an engine destined for proper use.

Seems to me to be a rook of work, to make an approximation of a class 25 when all you can do it tart about light engine with it when it is all done.

 

I don't know about another 25, but I'd love to see and hear a long lost 23 "tarting" about - who knows it might even raise the required awareness to get it hauling passenger trains

Several steam revival projects have a display element to them before the full blown completion. I applaud the group for making a start on the project and breaking new ground for diesel preservation. As many involved in a railway project will say, it is sometimes unwise to always look at the full task ahead. Taking one step at a time is often the way a project reaches fruition.

The 23 has always been seen as one of the most likely of the diesel recreation projects to succeed, so good luck to them!

 

considering the cost of the flying scotsman overhauls, this seems v. good value

or it might say more about the costs of the scotsman !

 

Its been tried once already about 10 years ago. A chap called Ken Joy got hold of a set of correct bogies and even found an orriginal NBL-MAN L12V-21B engine but he couldn't get the finance to do the project so it stalled. I offered my assistance as a volunteer, but at the time I was not in a position to offer financial assistance.....
Jim

 

Thats the first I heard about it, have you got a linky to such info, or have you let the cat out of the bag! LOL

 

With most restoration work you can keep costs down by using volunteer effort rather than paying people to do what you are capable of yourself, the only issue is that it is likley to take longer to complete.

 

Wow ! first I heard of it too, I heard a number of power units were sold into further use but where did he find the bogies ?
Hope they are all safe for a future project.

 

Isn't the Class 37 itself a sort of cut-n-shut' job on the class 40 design - with fewer axles, a smaller engine and buffers mounted on the frame instead of the bogies?

Anyway the new Baby Deltic seems a worthwhile project even if it can't be an exact replica of the originals.

 

...are the bits still around for that one?

Morris

 

Not 100% sure but I think he did get the bogies (from a clacton unit IIRC) but not the engine.

 

Any simular engines available in germany for the 21?
Always wanted to get two western engines and a couple of 47's and build a falcon myself.

 

I don't think so. They built a few V200s with them but they wern't as good as either the Maybach or Mercedes engines and got swapped out at a later date. What else they were used in I don't know. I would have thought as it was a MAN desgin it got used for other things than locomotives so there might be engines about? who knows.
Jim