Rotting away?

Its fine to say build carriage sheds, ensure you have decent stock, but money does not grow on trees ( unless your the PM)
It has to come from somewhere, how much does it cost to overhaul an mk1? and do you have the right staff in the right positions with the skills needed,

 

Well the Lottery has been most helpful in the past. As I have said umpteen times, carriage shed first, extension to Ultima Thule a long way second but oversized chuffers still further behind third.

Paul H.

 

A MKI is a very different beastie from a pre-grouping 4 (or 6) wheeler, but it's horses for courses and some MKI restorations I've seen look nothing short of spectacular.

While to some they may lack the appeal of earlier kit, I'm particularly impressed by the turnout of the suburban MKIs on the NNR, every bit a part of the commuter story as anything earlier and as rare as hen's teeth these days.

I still love the IWSR's ex-SECR saloon though .... lovely sofa style seats!

 

A lot more if you have to keep doing it again and again coz it got left out in all weathers! Where to priotritise all that hard won money, eh?

 

decent carriage sheds should have been built decades ago in some cases. Heritage railways are not a new phenomenon. More important than extensions really.

 

Hopefully back in service next season. The Ventnor West set similarly has sofa style seating in third class. Unexpectedly stylish for something concocted for the thinnest of thin end branch lines.

Paul H

 

Of course, you'll be plenty familiar with matters on the ground and the website where I keep a regular finger on the pulse of C&W goings on at Haven Street. For t'others, here's the (always much appreciated) Facebook page in question:
https://m.facebook.com/IWSR-CW-happenings-611820685590574/

 

I suppose you could link the poor state of rolling stock, to the overall state of the finances, and numbers of available volunteers available?

 

If you don't have railway land suitable to build your storage building on, it may take years just to acquire a site.

Sawdust.

 

And even if you do have siding space, planning permission doesn't come automatically.

 

It helps if the volunteers skills are actually made use of and the trained craftsmen dont hide behind a " its not my job to train him " excuse siting what if something goes wrong, sometimes people use H&S as an excuse to not pass on any knowledge, in one case i saw someone who was so called trained being allowed to do a job because, he was "trained" but i, the untrained person had to sort out his mess up when i probally had more skill yet dispite showing i had the skill base, i was not allowed to use my skill, only to put right the mistakes .

 

being at the back of the queue for these things you mean? I imagine you are right but I travelled in a DMU recently where a day spent with a basic tool box and some cleaning cloths would have improved it no end at no cost. Frankly there was no excuse for one door to have been on the safety catch all day (I even tried closing it properly)

 

But as @Reading General says, heritage railways are not a new phenomenon.

PH

 

Almost inevitably. Without a sugar daddy with deep pockets, even most grants involve matching funds with a similar contribution found elsewhere.

Less than ideal, but perhaps there's scope for something between a tarp and a pukka shed which may be a bit more affordable as an interim solution for stored stock?

I've noticed in several Irish NG histories, as well as the old Talyllyn, that the lower couple of feet of carriage sheds was left open to permit air circulation (except the C&L, where from some odd notion of money saving, the GSR demolished the damn things completely, with all too predictable consequencies for the stock!).

Presumably, these were unheated structures, but were open lower sides a good idea? C&W types will be infinitely better placed than me to comment on that one.

 

I always understood this was to save the payment of rates!! This takes some beating for short sightedness.

Paul H

 

Now there's a cost implication which slipped my mind. Still way cheaper than knackering complete rakes of stock by leaving it in the open I'd imagine. I wonder ..... what variables make a difference to ratable value? Windows ? Services (leccy & water) ? Classification as 'storage' or 'workshop' ? 'Temporary' or 'permanent' status?

Why's nothing ever straightforward any more?

 

Tarps cause the the coach to sweat, and that's bad for wood and steel, so dry and ventilated is best. Our climate is not like North Africa, so nothing is going to last for ever.

 

It's the bodies that need protection the most so an open lower metre or so would be acceptable. In fact there's a school of thought that a through flow of air is a good thing. (My camper doesn't mind living under a car port and such a structure wouldn't be too dear, a bit like the Railmotor shed at Didcot might do

 

If a building has foundations = Planning Permission
If a building has no foundations = No Planning Permission

A case in point, my shed 2 of us built for the jinty at Bitton standing 30+ years, and just sits there, al nut and bolted together!

 

There is nothing quite like traveling in a converted toilet is there!