The MHR today?

OK, I'm an open sort of guy.

I'm trying to save the 4f from AVR. The present condition of the engine is unknown, but from pictures on the internet and the LMS website, I see a loco which is breaking my heart.

With Mike in hospital after his stroke, Jim at home and can't get around much, and the rest of the owners split between moving it to Bury, where my Jinty went, and leaving it there, or my favored option moving it home.

29 years it's sat at the AVR, and now even the cab we built at Ropley needs rebuilding.

I don't own any shares in the engine, but I fund raised the money, moved the bloody thing sideways to get it out of Barry, and sweated 5 years on it at Ropley. The last job I did on the loco was to take the tubes out of the boiler in 1989.

So do I roll over and let it continue rotting, or try and save it a second time?

Everything is getting a bit too much for me as it looks like I'll never never see the 3f or 4f again!

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oh right, I see . He's not offending Polsteam at all......just the Armchair Experts on NatPres. Oh that's much better!

 

So what you are trying to say "Is there any MHR volunteers from the engine restorer/repairers department on here, so I can have a chat with them over to see if the working condition is friendly enough try to bring down an engine down to the line to the restored to working order"

 

I was going to point you toward the website http://4123.co.uk/ but saw a) you already found it and b) they haven't posted an update in a while.

I might need to check this but last I read, the engine was given another coat of paint to protect it (and a shelter erected over it to keep the rain out, which I saw up close at the last gala) while the tender progresses in the workshop.

 

i think its more a case of the next generation, reading between the words, the owners and those who saved the 4f in thee first place realise that they are not in the position to finish it, am i right in that assumption, 34058 came from the AVR, The problem is this, whilst a 4f is a simple engine to restore, and i'm sure one would be more than welcome , unless enough people can be found to work on it, and do it as a stand alone project how long would it have to wait before it could be brought into the works? i cant see that storage is a problem, putting the loco some where where it can be worked on might be, you would need to have the loco striped asap, and reduced to frames boiler and wheel sets, if your serious why not chat to Colin chambers, see if they can take the 4f, if he says yes, then i'm sure that a volunteer project to restore the frames and get it to a rolling state whilst fund raising to do the boiler would not effect the plans too greatly

 

The website for the 4f links to their Flickr site which was updated only 4 days ago. It shows work proceeding on the tender well tank, water scoop and other tender fittings. Looks to me like progress is being made. Yes it's slow, but let's say you moved the loco to the MHR - how long would it then have to wait for any work to be done? As I understand it, 76017, 34105, 41312, 75079, 34058 and 80150 would all be ahead of it in the workshop queue. The 3 S15s and 34007 may also come before it in the queue. Surely it's better to leave it where it is and let the team keep working at it than have it waiting for many years in the Alresford headshunt?

If you don't have any ownership stakes in the loco, then it really is up to the current owners to decide - not any of us! If the loco becomes available for sale, then that's a different matter, but I don't see any indications of this being considered.

Keith

PS: No disrespect meant to the MHR by the above - just looking at things realistically!

 

@mcjlf1

(not sure if this will work)

 

Here's the flickr page:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/4123lms/

 

the 3 S15's are being overhauled by small groups, or were, so would have little impact on the Railway owned engines, 76017 and 41312 are due to be out, this year, 75078 has its own group who are slowly working towards its completion, i think that if a group were put together, it may be possible if the frames were put on a wagon at the back of the shed for a small group to work on another engine without adversely effecting other projects

 

Well, I give up! And I don't say that often, in fact it could be a first, following a phone call from one of the Bitton crew, who basically said, I have no shares in the engine, and I'd not worked on it in 20 years! Even my Jinty box van is theirs by default as they have repaired it. So I'm a nobody with nothing, so **** off, although he didin't say that, that's what he meant.

I feel like destroying everything I have left from my working days at the MHR AVR ELR and Poland, as I'm a nobody, with nothing to show for my life, to give my kids.

 

Hi Martin,

I was thinking more about workshop space than the groups restoring them. Both 506 and 499 will need the workshop for a reasonable length of time while they have parts of their frames replaced. 75079 is still a fair bit away and needs its tender constructed. From looking at the MHR blog, there is currently no room in the main shed or the wheeldrop shed for any further locos.

Keith

 

Was this person one of the owners? or someone who likes to think of it as "Their engine" and if it moved away, they wouldnt beable to dictate what,or who does what on it,? the fact is that its been at the AVR so long that it should have been restored by now, they dont have the funding, or the workforce i would say, had it gone anywhere else it would have most likily be done by now, ignore that idiot, after all had it not been for the LM Society there have would not have been any 4f to start with if you are on talking terms with the rest of the owners i would see how they feel, and take it from there,

 

Let's be honest here. Someone writing on an internet forum that he wants to move an engine that he's not a volunteer or or a part-owner of to a railway that he hasn't been associated with for a long time is not going to get a positive response for either the locomotive's current owners or the railway.

 

FFS!

 

Last I spoke to the AVR people, they dearly loved the 4F and really wanted it to steam on that line (as do I). It's only in recent years that significant progress has been possible. The clearing out of no-hoper projects from the yard has certainly helped ease storage issues.

 

You forgot our best loco ;-)

In all seriousness a 4f would be nice but Ropley is full enough already and we fingers crossed we might be able to keep Nelson for another ticket,

 

Remind me again, what's the topic here?

 

Message to readers for clarification purposes
44123 is installed at AVR there is no intention or need to relocate the engine or the group working on it who are both organising and funding its progress.
Yes the loco is being disassembled and painted to help reduce the ravages of weather, whilst a new tender is being produced. Which is well under construction to a sound quality near original design I have been closely involved in what is being done although I do not work on it as such.
The situation with Mr Vout is in no way responsible to how the project is scheduled or progresses and has not been for some time.
I hope this is sufficient to clarify the situation.