W&LLR Resitas

Does anyone know if any plans exist for these in the future? could they be rebuilt without the troublesome axles, on the lines of no. 10?

 

I could be completely wrong but I'm sure I read that, with No 10 being returned to service, there was no requirement for both Resitas and one was to be dismantled. Sorry can't be more definitive. Ray.

 

The Klein-Lindner axles have been only part of the problem. Whether or not No. 19 gets rebuilt I had better leave to others more involved with the W.& L.L.R. nowadays.

P.H.

 

What would be the point of dismantling one if there is no requirement for either?

 

A lot of 18 has been sold for scrap whilst 19 is considered too troublesome to even consider fixing. Many on the railway believe the build quality is just not up to it and fixing the current problem will just temporarily prolong its life until something else goes wrong. When they were reviewing their options recently, repairing 19 was estimated to cost £20k as opposed to £60k to repair Sir D. The fact they went for the more expensive option speaks volumes about the faith they have in 19. Interestingly this option was advocated by a number of the people involved in the initial purchase and restoration of 19, it seems the purchase of 19 was quite an error of judgment.

 

Let's hope that W&LLR didn't pay too much for it.

John

 

Well, that's a shame if it is the case. I hope that a home that will tackle it head on can be found and a useful engine made out of it. Step forward Statfold?

 

I suspect everything will need to be replaced with material of known quality!

PH

 

While this loco was in service it seemed quite popular - but was it in fact a pain behind the scenes?
Perhaps it could be exhibited with Monarch as examples of promising failures...

 

This is one of the most sensible suggestions made about both machines! The Resita had an enormous amount of work done to her and, in the end, could haul heavy trains but as soon as one thing was fixed, something else would emerge. Thankfully none of the major component failures had bad consequences.

As for "Monarch", it is in the nature of a gricer's dream; a real "wouldn't it be nice" locomotive. I suspect, that despite it having several design features that would cause problems over the switchback route, it would be a less effective haulier then "Joan". In turn the latter can haul less than the Beyers.

This is an extraordinarily difficult line to operate and demands a great deal both from the motive power and its crews.

PH

 

The problem with the Resita is that it was built cheaply using indifferent materials. The motion is probably best described as disposable. I don't know anything of the history of these machines in service, but I would guess that their home sheds carried a vast stock of bits, or that there were significant number of locos "spare". I was privileged enough to drive it on one occasion and having many years ago also having driven 699.01 the comparison was interesting. The Resita rode better, but in all other respects was not as good a locomotive. It felt fragile, whereas Sir D always felt in complete mastery of its trains regardless of the load. From a user's point of view 699 didn't require you to hold the regulator open or use both hands to control it accurately either. The guys at Llanfair put all their considerable skill and dedication into "sorting" the Resita, but in the end I think its original construction and design simply couldn't match what the line needed from the locomotive....high reliability, something 699 was always very good at delivering. Frankly the suggestion that another line should take it on and make something of it is off the mark. A short, flat, slow, light load line not requiring high reliability/availability would be able to make use of the Resita. Anyone else is going to catch the same (or a worse) cold than the W&L. If they couldn't get it to work I doubt anyone else will for similar work either, and there are not that many 2'6" lines in the UK anyway. I wouldn't shed a tear if it were scrapped, but the boiler is decentish, so it might be worth hanging onto in case someone wanted to build a replica JB Earle. (Tongue firmly in cheek).

 

When my Premium Bonds come up with the million pound prize, ...

John

 

And *keep* coming up, judging by what's been said about its reliability.

 

Whilst the first statement is probably a fair assessment, many of the Romanian forestry lines that this type of loco was in the main developed and built for certainly don't fall into the "short, flat, slow and light load" category, and the locos were worked a lot harder, day in and day out, on some very indifferent track with a lot less care and maintenance that the Resita would have enjoyed on the WLLR. I've not seen anything published which suggests they were particularly problematic or unreliable in service. The fact that they built further batches in the 1980's to the same design would appear to indicate that they were pretty happy with them.

There are examples still working in Romania and others running on preserved lines elsewhere in Europe and it would be interesting to know if they have had similar issues. If not, it's a bit of a mystery to me as to why it has proved so fragile on the Welshpool.
I for one will be very sorry if it doesn't have an active future in Wales, but rather than scrap it, there may well be somewhere elsewhere in Europe that can make better use of it.

 

It shows just what a difficult line the W&LLR is! Most locomotives visiting the line for galas etc. have suffered from steaming troubles or heated bearings, sometimes both.

The late Chris "Poona" Walker, although not an engineer, was a supremely well travelled individual and expressed some doubt about engineering standards in Romania. Sadly it seems he was right.
PH

 

There are different standards to meet though. While you might get away with letting your engine run with a load of broken stays in some quiet corner of Romania you certainly won't at a high profile tourist attraction in Wales. If you have a large fleet of these things no doubt the odd misaligned cylinder or broken crank doesn't worry you two much as there is plenty more locos to put in service or swap bits with, not to mention cheap labour to sort it all out. The NGG16's on the WHR were similar after they had supposedly been overhauled in South Africa. They may be a sound design and have the advantage of reasonable build quality when compared to a Resita. After years of service in SA though they were full of bodges and dubious repairs to keep them going. Whist they were still capable of working a train it took the best part of 10 years to get them working any where near as reliably as they needed to be.

Railways like the W&LLR, Ffestiniog, VofR run pretty intensive services over challenging routes and with quite a limited loco fleet. The W&LLR usually has 3 engines available, the FR relies mostly on 2 double engines and the VofR only has 2 engines it really uses. They can't really afford to have one engine taking up all the workshop time as this will have implications on the rest of the fleet.

Tim

 

How did "Siam" cope on its visit to the line, and is it still for sale?

 

I saw it run there and it did very well but it was just too small for the W&LLR. Don't know about whether it is still for sale but was a very late build (1956 I think) and was reputed to have seen very little use since new.

PH

 

Any photos of Siam on the WLLR?

And while I am at it:
- where are the Sierra Leone carriages now? Are they used in service or at galas all?
- where is Chevalier now? I know she has visited WLLR and Whipsnade

 

I remember travelling behind Siam on its visit to the W&LLR. On the Friday before the gala, Siam and Sir Drefaldwyn worked a double headed trip to Welshpool and back. On the descent of Golfa, Sir D broke a spring and after limping into Welshpool it was decided to leave Sir D there so Siam headed back to Llanfair on its own with a couple of Zillers. It coped fine with that load and for the rest of the gala weekend either worked freights or piloted trains up Golfa.

I visited Bredgar earlier this year and saw Siam parked up in the shed, resting on the concrete floor. One of the volunteers intimated she was still. For sale but that the asking price was too high hence there had been no interest. I don't think it's been used since it visited Llanfair.

Two of the SLR carriages have been fully restored to original condition but haven't seen any use for at least two years, they are just tucked away in Tanllan.

Chevalier is currently at Whipsnade I believe.