SPARTAN 3135 Moves

Spartan 3135 (Chrz 3135/53) has been sold from the Spa Valley Railway, and is now is on the Swindon and Cricklade Railway.

 

I heard the S & C R were looking for a suitable sized loco for the line, a TKh should be a good match.

 

She arrived safe and sound this afternoon, here's a video of her being offloaded:



Video thanks to SwindonWeb.

 

if you squint a bit, she looks like a 15xx....

 

Can't wait to fire it. Looks like it will pull a house down!!!

 

Close your eyes completely and the two classes look identical.

 

Looks more Yankee tank.

 

I did squint a bit, possible 15xx, I then turned and squinted at the missus....

 

...instead of squinting at her maybe I should have closed my eyes

 

Is your missus polish and maroon?

 

No, welsh and pasty

 

Cornish and pasty surely

 

15xxs and TKHs were both inspired by the USA tank design, apparently...

 

Good news for the Swindon & Cricklade Railway which I understand has been "steamless" for a while. Also good to see that Owsden Hall's restoration is coming along nicely together with some rather impressive 4-wheeled coaching stock including this beautiful Taff Vale Rly coach:
http://www.swindon-cricklade-railway.org/vintagetaff.php#top
I've often believed that the Swindon & Cricklade is one of those heritage lines that deserves better, in that it has never expanded to the extent that its not too distant neighbour the GWSR has (the 2 railways are very different in many ways and that's not a bad thing) but I feel that it is close enough to a large population at Swindon to perhaps be rather "higher up the league" than it is at present. That said, it often comes up with some little gems, including the vintage stock and, considering that it sits on the remains of a single track line belonging to a Company (MSWJR) that the GWR couldn't wait to subdue, it still has the power to surprise. I do wish the Swindon & Cricklade well, they deserve it.

 

Thanks for the Kind words, we do try where we can. Within the next three years or so we should have four steam locos available to us, so something to haul our lovely taff coaches! Slowly but surely it's all getting there!