North Norfolk Railway General Discussion

The only resident (coal fired) boiler currently on the NNR that is not "in ticket" belongs to the Steam Crane! As you say, it's a great loco position to be in and it is probably the first time in the railway's history that this has been the case?

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The real question ought to be when do the boiler tickets expire. Ideally they would be spread over a period of time, but I think the 7F and 4MT, for example, returned from overhaul at about the same time. The railway will not want to go from boom to bust over a short period of time.

 

.... and we've all seen that happen on a few lines over the years! When it comes to planned overhauls, Sod's Law (and it's addendum*) most definitely applies with a vengance.

* For the uninitiated (Welcome to Earth btw) ... and even if it can't ..... it might.

 

53809 returned to action 2 years ago, 76084 was returned to steam about 2014ish.

 

One advantage of having more serviceable engines is that in theory, the engines will be less worn out when their ticket runs out, plus it allows more time for running repairs.

 

I’m sure the NNR will have some contingency plans in place by the time the next round of overhauls takes place. Maybe the home fleet will have grown more by then. I realise the NNR is not the longest line, but neither is the K&WVR and they have a much larger steam fleet.

 

Carriage & Wagon Blog updates:

C&W Blog - February Part 1

C&W Blog - February Part 2

 

Looking forward to a visit to the NNR next week. Have not visited since 2016 so looking forward to seeing all the improvements at Sheringham. And looking forward to seeing Black Prince in steam (subject to availability lol)

 

Just came across this rather charming video featuring a local NNR volunteer.

 

First visit of 2018 to the NNR. Bit chilly

 

But 92203 warmed the cockles? Tempted to pop over Saturday, see if I can persuade the good lady.

 

The body of Great Eastern Railway 853 now has wheels for the first time in 91 years!

C&W Blog - February Part 3

 

Quite an old video that, Christine hasn’t volunteered for years. Was last around probably the year that was filmed.


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The Carriage & Wagon Blog update this week features the completion of the restoration work on CCT E94464:

C&W Blog - Completion Special E94464

 

I've thought of a use for CCT's. Fit rubber internal walls and use 'em for rowdy sprog transport!

Seriously though, what a superb revamp. Fantastic that the capacity is there to care for non-passenger stock, without which there's always something missing from our lines.

Great update - as always Chris - and thanks for keeping us all posted.

 

Looks great, especially the interior, I wonder how many CCTs are done that thoroughly!?

Funny you should mention paint cracking right the way through to bare metal on the SO, we discovered exactly the same problem with a recent arrival at Winchcombe. Any thoughts on what might have caused it? It's not something anyone's ever come across before at our place. Like you we concluded it all had to be taken back to bare metal.

 

Possibly just a dud batch of cream paint. The lower (crimson) areas of the coach are fine, and the coach was primed top to bottom in the same paint, so whatever has happened, I believe it has something to do with the cream paint. Other carriages painted in the same shade of cream (but different batches of paint as done at different times) haven't suffered the same fate. Thankfully (so far) it appears to be a one-off phenomenon on our railway... The paint cracked about two years after it was outshopped, and there have been two or three Crimson/Cream coaches out shopped subsequently that haven't reacted the same way. Fingers crossed its an isolated event!

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Possibly just a dud batch of cream paint. The lower (crimson) areas of the coach are fine, and the coach was primed top to bottom in the same paint, so whatever has happened, I believe it has something to do with the cream paint. Other carriages painted in the same shade of cream (but different batches of paint as done at different times) haven't suffered the same fate. Thankfully (so far) it appears to be a one-off phenomenon on our railway... The paint cracked about two years after it was outshopped, and there have been two or three Crimson/Cream coaches out shopped subsequently that haven't reacted the same way. Fingers crossed its an isolated event!

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It's already been suggested we fit a sound system to it and run it as a "Party Bus" for volunteers :-D

With regards to capacity for restoring non passenger stock, the need to have a bike van on each train in the summer holidays (things get surprisingly messed up if you try and run without one) has made these vans surprisingly important to our peak season operation, rather like the two Mark 1 brakes we run.... So whilst I would love to say we restored it for the love of it, it was in fact driven by the same force that dictates the choice for most of our overhauls: the needs of the business. The CCT's are marshalled directly next to the engine for 50% of the time, so having ones in scrappy condition also reflects badly on the NNR and indeed to a lesser extent, the C&W department!

Having said that I won't deny though that the "commercial need" to have this van has of course created enthusiast friendly side effects, such as increased potential for a demonstration parcel train at galas!!

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The neccessity to cater specifically to so many visitors arriving by bike comes as a pleasant surprise. To judge by the lack of such facilities on many lines, I'd imagined that what cyclists there are were generally judged to need just a lock up at a station while they enjoyed a round trip.

I'm delighted to learn the NNR has tapped into this market to the extent that a brake end alone is insufficient. I can think of a few 'big railway' operations which could do worse than to follow this particular lead. When the last slam door stock went from the Brighton line, the London-Brighton bike riders lost a very useful facility and the railway lost a lot of predictable off-peak custom - and goodwill.

That 'party carriage' idea sounds jolly interesting .... though the lack of lavatory facilities in a CCT suggests this mightn't make these best ideal for the job, which applies equally to my 'sprogwagen' idea too I s'pose - dammit!