If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Current and Proposed New-Builds

Discussion in 'Steam Traction' started by aron33, Aug 15, 2017.

  1. LesterBrown

    LesterBrown Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2009
    Messages:
    995
    Likes Received:
    761
    Location:
    Devon
    Is it on CNN or in the New York Times then?
     
    Kinghambranch likes this.
  2. Jimc

    Jimc Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2005
    Messages:
    4,052
    Likes Received:
    4,665
    Occupation:
    Once computers, now part time writer I suppose.
    Location:
    SE England
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    According to the latest GWS echo the new County project will need to demonstrate a set of erected frames and sufficient raised funds/pledges for cylinder block and driving wheels to be manufactured before the GWS transfers any parts to them.
     
  3. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,440
    Likes Received:
    17,941
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    This article from 2016 suggests they have the money for the frames already.
     
  4. andrewshimmin

    andrewshimmin Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2011
    Messages:
    1,761
    Likes Received:
    2,160
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I think the County 4-4-0 project is one of the silliest new build ideas. Neither amongst the best GWR 4-4-0s (we have 2 anyway) or amongst Churchward's great designs (of which there were many and thankfully we have a few preserved). We are not short of GWR locos, and there are lots of GW projects anyway, not to mention quite a few locos which haven't turned a wheel in preservation - including some much better suited to either heritage or main line use...
     
    Johnb, 1472, michaelh and 2 others like this.
  5. William Fletcher

    William Fletcher Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2016
    Messages:
    219
    Likes Received:
    237
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Lincoln
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    That's your opinion. Good luck to them I say.
     
  6. LesterBrown

    LesterBrown Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2009
    Messages:
    995
    Likes Received:
    761
    Location:
    Devon

    Perhaps not quite as silly as the County 4-6-0. But I do slightly wonder if a better use of 5227's boiler would have been to fully recondition it for use on City of Truro.
     
  7. marshall5

    marshall5 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2010
    Messages:
    2,376
    Likes Received:
    3,981
    Location:
    i.o.m
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with Lester re the County 4-6-0 I would much prefer to see 5227's boiler on a restored 5227 as the class is not otherwise represented in the GWS collection. I'm not sure that there would be much to be gained by using 5227's boiler on Truro rather than rebuilding its own No4.
    Ray.
     
    michaelh, 26D_M and Kinghambranch like this.
  8. Kinghambranch

    Kinghambranch Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2006
    Messages:
    1,868
    Likes Received:
    1,588
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    White Rose County
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I must admit that, whilst I would very much like to see a GWR 4-4-0 County up and running (or rough riding!) on the GWSR (some excellent photos of these locos on the Honeybourne Line taken by H Household in his book "Gloucestershire Railways in the 1920s") the GWS does not have a restored example of a 2-8-0T at Didcot (I know they have a nearly complete 2-8-2T version). So, in some respects, I'd like to see 5227 restored in its own right. However, not my money so not my vote. It's interesting to note that the 4-4-0 Counties were not long-lived and some of their elderly 4-4-0 brethren on the GWR outlived them by a few years!
     
  9. Robkitchuk

    Robkitchuk Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2013
    Messages:
    324
    Likes Received:
    358
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Durham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    I think Derwent is the direct descendent of George. Then it's Stephenson long boilers.
    Anything not GWR would be nice. Holds no interest for me personally.
     
    andrewshimmin and Bluenosejohn like this.
  10. ross

    ross Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2017
    Messages:
    1,002
    Likes Received:
    2,477
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Titfield
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Hahaha. No.
     
  11. 26D_M

    26D_M Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2009
    Messages:
    4,416
    Likes Received:
    1,681
    Is one of the reasons most of the Barry "dregs" are being used is that their condition was unattractive to earlier purchasers? So perhaps poor boilers being reused in otherwise new locos is sub optimal?
    Any new build with an old boiler will need a new one in due course so why not just start with one?
     
  12. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2009
    Messages:
    8,068
    Likes Received:
    5,165
    Whingeing about the Barry Ten is unhelpful. Long after all the others had been claimed those ten were left in limbo precisely because no-one wanted to take them on. Then a plan was worked out to make use of a large proportion of their parts for projects that people were willing to take on.
     
    jnc, Black Jim, hyboy and 6 others like this.
  13. Jimc

    Jimc Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2005
    Messages:
    4,052
    Likes Received:
    4,665
    Occupation:
    Once computers, now part time writer I suppose.
    Location:
    SE England
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Not to mention utterly pointless!

    There are sufficient preserved 42s about that I have every confidence that one will end up at Didcot in the fullness of time. Really not something to worry about in the long term. I think its more of an issue that the GWS has very little in the way of Churchward and earlier locomotives. Especially that the carriage department are putting fine work into various Dean carriages with nothing contemporary currently available to pull them.

    Its perhaps a bit misleading to say that the Counties elderly brethren outlived them. They were the last large wheeled 4-4-0s in service. Most went in 1930/31 with a few lasting until 1933, whereas the various 41s and 37s were mostly withdrawn in the late 20s and few were left when the Counties were withdrawn in numbers. It seems safe to assume that there simply wasn't work for what must have been expensive locos to run. Surely the 5ft 8 wheel mixed traffic Bulldogs and especially Dukes lasted longer because they had different tasks?
     
  14. Cartman

    Cartman Well-Known Member Account Suspended

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2015
    Messages:
    2,290
    Likes Received:
    1,672
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Van driver
    Location:
    Cheshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    The Dukes, as far as I know, ended up on the Cambrian lines in Wales due to their low axle loading.

    On the topic of the County proposal, the bad riding of the class shouldn’t be an issue at 25 mph on a heritage line, wouldn’t have thought Network Rail would be overkeen on one, as it would, presumably hammer the track
     
    Last edited: Feb 11, 2018
    26D_M likes this.
  15. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2017
    Messages:
    12,172
    Likes Received:
    11,493
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Brighton&Hove
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    From what I've read about the originals, I doubt that many crews would be any too keen either!
     
  16. ross

    ross Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 18, 2017
    Messages:
    1,002
    Likes Received:
    2,477
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Titfield
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Any new build with a new boiler will need a new one in due course so why not just start with an old one?

    An old boiler just has to be patched up to pass a pressure test. A new boiler has to pass 2018 standards, which is a whole different thing. And as Tornado showed, even a brand new £1/4m quid German-built boiler can have issues. Especially if it saves £100,000 and gets a project a long way forward. A set of frame parts don't look like much. Put a set of wheels under it and a pair(or 3 or 4) cylinder castings and it looks like you've got about 20% of a locomotive. With a boiler, that project suddenly appears* to be 90% there. And people are keener to part with a few quid to finish off a project that is nearly there.
     
    jnc, David Humphreys and 26D_M like this.
  17. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    3,498
    Likes Received:
    6,845
    Location:
    Here, there, everywhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I suspect that it is probably easier to get people on board to volunteer and to fund new build (using old parts) of a 'sexy' passenger loco than it is to get those same people on board to volunteer and fund a restoration of an 'unsexy' freight loco.

    It is maybe an unfair criticism of Didcot but there seem to be more new builds going on than restorations of existing locos.
     
  18. 61624

    61624 Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2006
    Messages:
    5,294
    Likes Received:
    3,596
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer

    It is maybe an unfair criticism of Didcot but there seem to be more new builds going on than restorations of existing locos.

    Is that because it's where money lies, though? What puzzles me is where the money goes at Didcot. I get the impression that all the big new-build projects are independently funded, but where is the gate money going? They are short of demonstration locos, should the gate money be going to ensure that the have a fleet suitable for their open days?
     
  19. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,440
    Likes Received:
    17,941
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    That's a good point actually - where *does* all the gate (and membership) money go to?
     
    michaelh and 26D_M like this.
  20. 26D_M

    26D_M Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2009
    Messages:
    4,416
    Likes Received:
    1,681
    Hardly whingeing to offer a personal opinion that restoring an existing loco is preferable to canibalising it for a "new" build of a different sort. Others see it differently, all views equally valid?
     
    clinker, michaelh, ghost and 2 others like this.

Share This Page