Flying Scotsman

Excellent news. £450,000 (the actual sum quoted in Steam Railway) is a ludicrously small amount of money with which to finish the overhaul/pay for mainline testing/running/railtours/insurance/etc etc...

Way, way back when the NRM launched the "Save our Scotsman" appeal, I took it on myself to raise money for it, while at school. I completed ten laps of our four and a half mile "Chinbrook run", nearly killing myself in the process! I raised a large three figure sum, donated it, and couldn't be happier it's in the NRM's hands. Having since visited the NRM several times, and seen first hand the work on the engine, I know they're the best people with which to look after this historic locomotive.

As for overhauls - I totally believe, 100% that this is going to be a "rolls royce" job and a half, and the engine has needed it. One can only suggest that you look towards the other 'scot' and see the can of worms opened there. While Pete Waterman is a superb and very much valued member of railway preservation, one can't help but feel the, ah, "bid" was quite disrespectful in its tone towards a museum load of volunteers who have worked very hard on this locomotive for most of the last decade.

 

To clarify, it's not him. He was asked to front the offer however.

 

City of Birmingham is my no 1

 

Howdo all, frames offloaded at York in a blizzard this lunchtime. All hands to the pump!

 

Huzzah!

 

There's a Yorkshireman. :thumb:

 

Well she's a Yorksher injun after all :tea:

 

It must be rubbing off on me after 7 years up here plus being married to a Yorkshire girl, I'm from Warwickshire really...

 

... I'm on missionary work darn there

 

Is that the Black Country or the Brumagen part ?

 

You can always tell a Yorkshireman...........

 

Obviously you've never met Geoffrey Boycott then.......you can't tell him anything.:madgrin:

 

Nah then lad. I 'ope thee's not tekkin Sir Geoffrey's name in vain.

 

Never going to happen. I know.....never say never, but.......

You would have to virtually demolish the front of the ThinkTank to get it out. Once out, it wouldn't be too much of a restoration project....it's boiler is virtually new!

Just got to get past the City Council.....even in these financial times, they refuse to even considder parting with it.

Maybe things will change in a few years......

Oh yeah. I forgot about the blue asbestos issue. It's full of it!

 

Also, certainly currently, I read that the museum wants it preserved as it was when it was retied... and thus making it mainline/steamable would damage the authenticity of it hence why it will not ever see the tracks again.

m0rris

 

City of Brum has its own thread here;

http://railways.national-preservati...-City-of-Birmingham?highlight=city+birmingham

 

Regrettably this is true, but it comes from a perversion of the nature of conservation. These daft people in Birmingham are applying attitudes that are perfectly valid to, say, a piece of ancient pottery, to an example of modern engineering. Most of the parts of the steam engine that are significant are hidden away, beyond sight. If you don't use them then they deteriorate. Once they have deteriated beyond a certain point then they are no longer relevant as a museum item which is intended to show the item at its best.

The way to show modern technologies is firstly to retain, and encourage, the capacity to manufacture the technologies and then to show the relevant parts in section as a teaching aid. 'City of Birmingham' would be better out on the line. As parts are replaced then those parts should be placed in the museum, not the entire, and completely uncared for, machine

The Brummy Barmies are not the only museum people who do this, the NRM has gone through a similar period, a period from which it seems to be emerging.

Regards

 

Wrong!

There is one Duchess suitably modified for operation in today's world - i.e. no longer original, but capable of showing 99.9% of what a Duchess is about

There is one Duchess returned to streamlined condition in line with today's operating clearances - i.e. unoriginal - but capable of demonstrating 99.9% of the original concept

There is one Duchess, carefully conserved, exactly as she was withdrawn, not cut down, not fitted with modern safety gizmos - capable of demonstrating 100% of what she was when she was withdrawn.

What exactly is lost in this scenario except one further toy for big boys to play with??

 

:focus: How many wheels has Scotsman got at the mo?