South Devon Railway

I remember being down there for this gala many years ago where Gordon Highlander piloting Dumbleton Hall from Kingswear. Think this was due to one of the Steam Loco's starting a big fire on one of the banks ! (Can't remember where but think between Kingswear & Churston) The train was the last one of the day on the Sunday I believe and should have been Dumbleton Hall & Lydham Manor. Went to Goodrington Station to Video it & got Gordon Highlander piloting Dumbleton Hall with Gordon Highlander doing all the work. Never did get them working together ! But I remember enjoying the 2 day gala down there. Not saying any more as this is the SDR thread note the P&DSR one.

 

Re Scorpian's comments. Lady Angela failed its annual inspection, not wholely unexpectedly. It needs a new inner firebox. That leaves 1369 doing small engine duties. Also most trains are now load 5 which is a bit taxing for the engine.
Re Sapper at Totnes. An engine was requested at that end. Now its more secure with the Rare Breeds on site most of the day and night the request was agreed to for the season to see how it goes. Sapper cleans up well and the Totnes group are looking after it. Problem matching up the green just at the moment. It will probably gain an information sheet. But we wouldn't risk leaving a complete loco there with the price of scrap being what it is! Errol Lonsdale has been considered for restoration as it is the least poorly of the 'J94's. But its still a big investment. Hiring it out would be the likely way of using it but then you want to find a line that wants it. That's most likely to be a smaller line that doesn't run that many days and so you find you can't recoup the investment. Whilst they did the SDR well in the early days they are not really suited to running 42 miles a day at speeds of up to 20 mph (soon to 25mph). They are hot and hard work and eat coal as the mechanics are more suited to slogging away shunting than running on a 'main line'.

 

Interesting comment on the speed. I didn't realise the line was 20mph max. How much track renewal has taken place the enable 25 then?

 

sdr

 

Where did that signalbox at Goodrington go ?, was it P&D or BR property ?.

 

The bridge at 2m 31c is passed for 23 tons. The speed limit is a question of alignment - the track is fixed to the bridge making it virtually impossible to achieve perfect alignment from both directions. There is a plan to carry out alterations to it over the coming winter. As to work carried out since 1991, the SDR have changed around 5 miles of ageing wooden sleepers for concrete. There is plenty of life left in the rail and work will continue to improve the ride quality. When weight and speed is finally increased there is no plan to alter the timetable to speed trains up. And it is not planned to have an influx of new heavier locos -it will just give the opportunity for occasional visiting locos and to enable 4920 to run.

 

Our J94's usually do 60+ miles a day, including having to pound up 1.5 miles of 1 in 37 or so three times. Fired right, they are no worse on coal than anything else. As for wear and tear, our "Buckets" seem to be the fastest turn-round at overhaul, quicker than either the Pannier or the piles of american scrap. Granted, they are not the most popular engines around, and a lot of lines actively try to avoid them. But ask those at the Foxfield, Tanfield or Embsay lines, and they will tell you they serve them VERY well. As for us, the one thing I will say about them is that you can light a fire in the morning, confident that the engine will last all day. And the next day, and the next....

 

if you're after an austerity in a hurry, why not mix the parts to make one that would require as little work as possible? you could take the best frames, the best boiler, the best motion, and put them all on one engine, then a restoration doens't take too long or cost too much. of course this only works if they're all owned by the railway.....

 

Id rather 1420 was outshopped before the j94's, From wot I hear the j94's are absolute pigs. Maybe if the railway sold the two j94's they couldperhaps afford another loco, perhaps 4588?

 

I would also like to see 1420 outshopped first I miss seiing her and her autocoaches and they seem to be a bit redundant too without her.
The point about Sapper and Errol was it is a pity they look so bad as they are on display and thought you would like to know it had been noticed and noted not just by me but by your customers on the Railway.
Buying 4588 is an interesting solution a friend for 5526 to play with, although aren't they sentimentaly valuable to the railway. Maybe not as much as 4920 but sentimental all the same.

 

j94's pigs? i've been on them and they are excellent locos. the only thing wrong with a J94 is the BR logo on the side. they are the real stalwarts of the tanfield, foxfield, embsay, KESR, L&HR, peak rail, IoW, VofGR, and several others. now if the SDR had bought themselves the superchaged austerity from the rutland museum, that would have given them a proper small and powerful engine. if the SDR decide to sell an austerity (none of them are real J94's) there will be many, including me, eager to snap one up

and besides, i thought 4588 had been sold

 

well, yeh, I spose they are, bur Errol Lonsadale is not that bad, wen its cleaned it looks quite good. I also think 4588 ran on the line as well, infact I think it was a running mate for 1420 and 1369 wen the railway first started in the 1960's

 

Re J94's - make a good one out of two has been considered. Various important design features means that Errol's boiler can't go in Sapper and v.v. So although Sapper's chassis is good, it's boiler needs a new firebox; Errol's boiler might be restorable at least expense and it has a well worn chassis.

The speeds on SDR are higher than at Bodmin and so they aren't most of the crews favourites. (Their are exceptions!) When you have driven or fired a nice little GW engine you realise there are horses for courses.

Sell two J94's and buy a 45? Wish it were possible. I see a J94 advertised at £40K this month but I don't think £80K will even be enough to buy the wheels of a 45 (even a knackered one).

 

4588 was certainly on the SDR in 1988 see http://www.steamtraingalleries.co.uk/pi ... n_068.html
And http://farm1.static.flickr.com/114/2895 ... ce.jpg?v=0

 

I should try a day crewing one of our USA tanks, if I were you. You'd be LONGING for a J94 within about 10 minutes of the start of the shift, and by the end of the day you'd eat a ton of coal if it meant you never had to go near one again! And they are genuine ex-BR engines!
If it was up to one of our drivers, he would pay you to take them away! He's tried throwing one down a rabbit hole already....

 

I never said I thought j94's were pigs, I've never worked on one, I just said I heard they were pigs, but ithers say, yeh, they are challenging, but if ur a good engineman you should be able to work on anything.

I didn't say you could swap the two j94s for the 4588, but the funds raised would be substancial and would make a big contibution to buying a propper GWR loco.

 

Dumbleton raises a good point there, but what about the third? or is it privately owned with an owner who would never consent to swapping parts? could you also please PM me about the austerity for sale.

certainly the sales from 2 austerities would go a long way towards an overhaul of any engine in the shed- i'm sure the 3205 group certainly would not turn it down

 

there is no austerity for sale, it was only an idea of mine!!!

 

PLEEEZ don't replace any track panels with welded rail. On any heritage railway this removes one of the distinctive sounds of rail travel from times past but on the SDR it would IMHO be just unforgivable. A highly respected railway such as this without its "clickety-clack" joints would be like the RHDR converting all its locos to steam outline diesels.

John.

 

I see where ur coming from, but from a maintainace point of view, its a lot easier.

Don't get worried either, this is only another of my little ideas, and I'm only a trainee fireman so my influence on the board is minimal.