J21 65033 gets its money!

Yes, I like the suggestion of a Midland Kirtley. The only thing missing then would be a 2F and 3F, which were the two stages of development between the Kirtley and 4F.

PS, you could even do the Kirtley as BR 58110, as one of them actually lasted long enough to be renumbered!

 

as nice as it will be to see an older engine restored and running in an appropriate Victorian livery i have one comment,

a million quid? for an 0 6 0 uncomplicated Victorian steam Loco, really?
i am so out of touch.

 

I too am delighted this lovely engine will steam again.

However i'm glad someone finally said it. Sadly it is a consequence of the diminishing availability of skilled men.

 

The million quid is for the whole project which covers the locomotive overhaul, restoration of 1902 built NER bogie stores van 5523, and the creation of a museum within the van (and some of the station) of 65033 and the van from the perspective of the people whose lives they touched.

 

Don't worry, you're still in touch

 

I appreciate that the money is for the restoration of both the saturated 0-6-0 tender engine and a van. It's just a lot of money for a saturated 0-6-0 and a van which implys all the work will be done by contractors at full commercial rates.

If there were more skilled folk around to help, volunteer or to create some competition in the market, then projects like this would not be so expense.

Sadly that is not the world we live in though.

 

Well it's an austerity with a tender and a tool van / support coach at the end of the day.
And why should anyone volunteer when if they sit there long enough someone will pay them to restore it.
The world has gone soft, mad, and accustomed to feeding of others.
I get the thing about skilled guys I really do but less than half of it is what I would call skilled work.
I think the cost of restorations has grown to soak up the money that can be made available,

Just my humble uneducated opinion you understand.

The melter

 

other way around

 

The locomotive would be restored by a contractor whereas the Bogie Stores Van would be restored by Stainmore Railway Company volunteers. The fitting out of all the museum displays within it will be be done by a specialist contractor. There is also funding for 2 part-time posts that I should have mentioned.

It actually helps a great deal because volunteer manpower is a precious resource and our hosts at Kirkby Stephen East have got no shortage of jobs for them: tracklaying, building the new shed, installing the Darlington turntable, rebuilding 2 signal boxes (including the Stockton & Darlington box which, once restored, will be the oldest working signal box in the world), finishing off Gresley coach 60505, restoring other NER & LNER rolling stock, and extending the line. All standard issue heritage railway stuff I guess

 

Your point about the dwindling numbers of skilled folk is spot on though and perhaps one of the great challenges for heritage railways as that great resource of pre-1968 workers dries up.

 

I do see the conflict here but many railways run very well with post 1968 staff either full time or volunteers often not even born before 1968, the key is to train young guys to be skilled not deny them the opportunity to learn by shipping the jobs out, I do see that the folks with this loco are doing the best they can for it with what they have got but i just feel we as a movement are doing the wrong things for the right reasons sometimes,
either way good luck to you and i do look forward to seeing it.
What is the correct shade of green for it then?

The Melter

 

You need to consider that the contractors may well consist of a mixed age group including apprentices. I think that very few of them would actually have been working on or been around during the steam era on BR.

 

Yes you will need to be 64 now to have worked for BR when steam engines were still working and this was by then a very small area of the country using steam.

 

Back to the excellent news of the C/J21 being restored to steam, this raises the possibility of it and NELPG's J27 being in steam at the same time - I don't think the two have been seen together in preservation so far? Looking at what could realistically be in steam in a few years time, somewhere could host a marvellous gathering of H class No 1310, Y7 No 985, J21 876, J27 65894 (assuming it goes back into service as BR black), J72 69025 and Q6 63395 - 6 NER designed locomotives together, wow

 

A few years, eh? Perhaps a little more optimism may be in order!
https://www.g5locomotiveltd.co.uk/page/latest-news-events/

 

Ahah, I'd forgotten about the G5 too. There's also the fantastic NER petrol-electric autocar project at Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway very much worthy of inclusion

 

Oh yes.... we've had this conversation a few times. Don't forget rolling stock either; what a fantastic sight indeed!

 

Thanks for jogging my memory, I'd not dropped in on that project's website for months. Think I'll give it a quick gratuitous plug:
https://electricautocar.co.uk/

 

Now which loco would be best for this?

 

J27