Strathspey Railway

That is good news! How much is there left to be done?

The prospect of an Ivatt double header....!

 

Perfect loco for the line, shame more of them aren't available to go round!
Anybody able to enlighten me on what the situation is with 828? Every time I see photos of the line it seems to be 46512 in traffic, the Caley doesn't seem to be getting much use, even with (to the best of my knowledge) a valid boiler ticket, which seems a real shame to me!

 

There's no place like home !

 

No. 828 has seen plenty of use this year, including every Sunday from End of March to End of October, and very reliably so. I believe the number of individual days by the end of October was 60 steamings.

The lack of photos of No. 828 is possibly down to so few photographers visiting the line outside of myself, steam_mad and another two Scottish photographers....and we all typically go for the days where the engine matches the stock.

That's not to say we don't have photos of 828, just in my case I haven't uploaded them onto my Flickr really. They tend to end up in the line's calendar on sale in the shop!

 

Has there been any official notice of what equipment was destroyed in the fire earlier this year?
Did any of the Jakkapakkas survive?

 

Very enviable fleet you now have there... I hope the GNSR Screech whistle makes a return to one of the Ivatts though!

 

Well this is excellent news! I'd heard some mumblings of her returning but thought that was WIBN dreaming. I've said for a while round here and probably elsewhere that Strathspey needed another suitable loco for Grantown. And they don't come much more appropriate than the locomotive that launched the railway. Its also good to note that 9 and 17 are still considered part of the fleet even if they've not been heard from for a while. Though I'll note, 9 seems to be getting dismantled.

Renumber 46512 to 46463 and have them run tender to tender! Certainly looking forward to her return.

 

Its a shame that a few more of the Lambton 0-6-2Ts didn't survive into the preservation era, they would have been ideal engines for many lines

 

Ah now you are on to something! Perhaps Network Rail might allow a loan of a couple of the Eastern snow ploughs and we can send them on line clearance duties down the HML...

 

You'd need a suitable large crew van (with stove, of course) between 'em, possibly a large bowser of some sort too .... what with the lack of watering facilities on the big railway ..... but it's a lovely notion.

 

When 46512 was sporting No. 46464's number plate last summer, the idea was floated with the owning group and shed staff should 64 ever visit or even become based at the railway. Needless to say, a headboard has been created for a certain railtour recreation....

 

A great warming of the relationship! Are the members still going to be involved in the overhaul?

 

As far as I'm aware, the bulk of the work will still be carried out by the 46464 team complimented by Aviemore Shed staff/volunteers if and where required, with access to all the utilities the shed offers which is a major step up from the scaffold tent at Bridge of Dun. A major win for all parties involved I feel.

 

Oh absolutely. Credit to the team thats got it to this point.

 

Some documentation of the latest infrastructure progress at the Strathspey Railway:
P-Way (new connected siding to Morley's II): http://ontrackatstrathspey.blogspot.com/

 

Great progress.

Dare one ask how RTG is coming along...?

 

In spite of the virus, the railway is using the time to do essential jobs (focus on Morley's Mk 2):
http://ontrackatstrathspey.blogspot.com/
This is a positive example, how to do the best in these difficult circumstances.

 

The Strathspey Railway S&T Department has also its own blog
https://signallingstrathspey.blogspot.com/

 

Great blog (now bookmarked); thanks for pointing it out - and thanks especially to the blog writer, for putting in the time/energy to produce it!

Noel

 

Despite the overhaul only starting in March, unique Caledonian 812 class 828's boiler has past it out of frames test and a new 10 year certificate issued, with the loco expecting to be back in service in the next few weeks! They reckon is must be one of the quickest medium-sized boiler turn arounds in preservation history, made even more impressive by it happening during a global pandemic. Link to the facebook video, which should work even for the non-account holders: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=304278333982436&extid=WFQvTQVULCOXCau1