Van 23

Where is Van 23 these days and is she ready to re-enter service as predicted (in 2009 apparently)

 

Hi - if you're talking about L&B van 23 (your post made no mention of which railway you're asking about), then I suggest better to post this on the L&B Yahoo group, as the folk in the know won't all be reading here.
BTW - have you done that membership yet!! You can now join online!!

 

Oh crumbs yea, thought I should have mentioned teh L&B lol....

...Not yet...once I have some money and my life has been sorted a little

 

Hi -
I was at Woody Bay in July and van 23 was still static, with railway leaflets etc inside. I guess the folk at Yahoo Exmoor will know more when it'll enter service. Maybe for the visit of Lyd?!!

 

You should refer to earlier in this year for the thread

"Van 23 and herritage coaches"

The situation with van 23 was well explained in that thread, there is also as far as I know an issue with vehicles having all wooden underframes being used as part of a train with passenger stock.

I suggest that this issue still stands it is not practical to try and put this vehicle on a steel underframe it may therefore never run in a passenger train.

There have to my knowledge, been no changes to its current condition or use and will I suspect be no changes in the forseable future.

It does not have couplers, although I suspect it could be made to couple to LYD , purely for a movement,but not to carry people. It has no brakes not even the hand brake.

My guess is the operating dept, when Lyd is there at WB will manage to get the two together to squeeze every bit of publicity out of the visit as no other heritage wagon or coaching stock, L&B items are at WB apart from van 23.

As I understand it Coaches need to be brought in to work with Lyd, that have compatible couplings and brakes, as well as look right "ish" or is there some plan to run with Keef coaches ?? It would be interesting to hear.

 

from what ive picked up about the visit carr 14 is to make the trip from the ffestioniog and is being repainted into a correct livery for the time

 

...and is NOT being repainted in Southern livery!

FR Carr 14 returned to traffic earlier this year - following winter maintenance which included bodywork repairs and a full repaint into standard FR coaching stock livery (except for the non-standard use of yacht varnish, which has added a pronounced yellow cast to the cream panels..!)

 

Ahhh...southern livery would be nice, never mind

 

Lyd may (or may not) run with two vacuum braked vehicles (one of which is Carr. 14) at the L&B gala. This would give the obvious benefit of the L&B being able to run two trains to cope with the crowds.

However the L&B do have to foot the bill for moving Lyd, Carr. 14 and any other vacuum braked stock. So if you are in anyway a L&B enthusiast, do try and make the trip to Woody Bay for what could be one of the narrow gauge events of the year. (And, if you happen to be in the West Country, don't forget you should be able to see Lyd, in Southern territory for the first time, the weekend before at the Launceston Steam Railway!)



Charlie

 

You seem to have forgotten about the FR Quirks event then! Where there was much more than 2 carriage sets and 3 engines in steam.

 

Far from it Mr High - but surely the first runs of an 'authentic' L&B loco on a section of the revived L&B are a big event?

The world doesn't quite revolve around Porthmadog, you know...


C

 

Perhaps not - but the Universe does...

:high5:

Snigger, snigger...

:evil:

 

To be fair, he did say 'ONE OF the narrow gauge events of the year' - along with the quirks gala and the upcoming superpower event, this is definately going to be one of the biggest NG events of 2010 and i'd be surprised if anyone thought otherwise.

Chris

 

Not forgetting the Ffestiniog Railway ‘Heritage Weekend’ from 8th to 10th October...

...better stop right there though, before I get accused of hijacking the thread.

Too right - couldn't agree more!

:cool1:

 

Not really, like I said, it's an authentic FR engine.

 

For those who seem engrosed in the FR or WHR and seem to have forgoten a few small details.

The FR has a 40 year head start on some people, and the WHR a £30+ M on some of the newer railways such as the L&B.

Nigels and Kims LSR was built on a very small budget with very few people working on it, in comparison as have most of the NG railways in the UK but what has been produced is dammed good.

For the reasons above it should be expected that the performance of the FR and WHR should be far in excess of the two smaller and many other newer NG railways.

This thread was not about what the FR or WHR can produce or how good it is.

It was about Van 23. Yes coach 15 does come into the equasion

In future it would be nice to try and keep on topic and within that railway , involved with the topic in this case van 23.

Most of us know how wonderfull the two railways are in North Wales, that is why we stayed in the south west and thought hard about how we would build "something" that eventually would form admirable competition with variation and a challenge of the FR and WHR's organisation and abilities .


On that basis we are only 8 years into the 40+ years and have spent little in comparison.

 

Hmmm...Quirks Vs THE replica MW on L&B territory...which is the better event in my mind....

...only kidding, Quirks was cool

 

Oh and that statement is completely incorrect. According to Google Dictionary: "Authentic, Made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original, Based on facts; accurate or reliable" Therefore, authenticly, it is an L&B engine, as it faithfully resembles an original Lynton and Barnstaple locomotive, not a Ffestioniog locomotive.

This must be the only replica locomotive where people really really split hairs about what it really is...I don't see why, as was said, the world, narrow gauge or otherwise, doesn't revolve around Porthmadog.

Glad to hear Coach 15/14 is coming though!

 

It has two whistles, is oil fired and runs at 200psi.

The important thing is that it's been built, not what colour it is. Just enjoy it.

 

What the kettle in VAN23 ?? or in the buffet in COACH 15 ??