S160 6046

Suggest you have a look at the Churnet Valley's stable of steam locos and ask yourself where the sense would be in 6046 leaving for the West Highland!

 

Edit: missed the non uk built bit

 

Thats the problem for CVR/MCR....what stable of locos

 

I think we got his gist the first time round.

 

Now now.....

 

Forgive my ignorence but wasn't 44422 owned by the group that runs the CVR. Have I missed that she been sold on, or is her hire agreement with the NVR not going to let her home to fly the steam flag?

 

She's owned by a separate group who seem to have made the Nene Valley their new home base. There was a disagreement with the CVR over maintenance standards and operating fees if I recall rightly which never got resolved.

 

Now that is a suprise...

 

Was 6046 in steam again on test today? Good news if it was...

 

She's undergoing various tests, and as problems are found these are rectified before she then undergoes further testing. Know one issue that raised its head was the fireman side injector, but that has now been fixed. I'm led to believe she could possibly be on test in the yard today.

 

Is this the one in the beano suggested was being considered for mainline ?
Apart from the Esk valley trains or the Jacobite cant see there being much call
the idea of one of these going any faster than 25 might be appealing to those watching , but on the footplate ..... eeek

 

Just announced as a guest loco at the NYMR gala 28-30 Sept

 

Hopefully, 6046 will acquit itself well and prove to the many doubters that the NYMR's own S160 (2253) is worth hanging on to and overhauling.

 

Dont get me wrong i hope so too. what ive heard of these is that they are good strong engines, but a little rough , hot and noisy on the footplate. There must have beena good reason why they were limited to 40mph (approx) in Poland....

 

I think it's fair to say S160's were built to a budget and limited lifespan (like the Riddles Austerities), so obviously there will be shortcomings, though power isn't one of them.

Interesting point about the top speed in Poland though and the implications it might have for Mainline running here considering Poland are nowhere near as tight on regulations as we are, unless im going mad I recall a mag article a few years ago which was basically Poland saying if someone brought over a UK Express type, they'd let it run up to 90/100 odd.

 

I think I recall that German enthusiasts called the Turkish examples 'klapperschlange' which translates as 'rattlesnake'. Not sure whether this referred to their US origin or to their riding qualities!

 

We may be thinking of the same article, when I recall reading a German Railway official saying that if Tornado visited she could run 'as fast as they like'!

I think the S160 is being looked at for mainline running in connection with M&CR and its future plans, rather than 'typical' mainline duties. I may well be wrong in that. I have heard tell that a well-overhauled and looked after S160 is an awesome beast of a loco despite their unpopularity in some circles.

I've always thought it would be nice for railways to make more effort at 40s events and try to get in appropriate locos - can there be any loco more appropriate than a S160?

 

It's due to be visiting the NYMR for the ASG this year - if NR approval is received in time it could do some test running at up to 45mph on the Esk Valley line.

 

State of the Polish trackwork - perhaps ?

 

I'm no engineer and don't have the classic reference book on US Army locos -so don't shoot me down in flames! However my experience of these locos in Poland,India, China and Turkey [and Greece but the examples there were dumped] is that they only seemed to do pilot and shunting work plus the odd trip job. Don't know if this was because it was late in their careers and they were run down, because there were more suitable locos for line work or they just didn't ride too well. Of course we have an 8F that can run up to 50mph on the mainline but I think i am right in saying she has refinements like wheel balancing? In Turkey their Nohab built 2-8-0s, and some others of that type, worked passenger trains but I have never seen an S160 used in this way which might say something. The Chinese ones were in industrial service and the Indian ones seemed limited to shunt and trip work as also were the Polish ones that I saw. I love 'em but they look top heavy.