The perfect 'new' engine for preserved railways?

To throw my own two cents in:

GCR 9F 0-6-2t as they had the same rough tractive effort as an Ivatt tank and seemed capable of at least 7 mk1's.

 

Well well Mr 8 pot, I like that idea... could even do that with a Standard 4... or an S160... OR A 9F (Cue manic and insane evil supervillain laugh...)

 

IWR Beyer Peacock 2-4-0T 'Ryde' later W13,

IWCR Black Hawthorn 4-4-0T No.6 later W6.

My old late friend Don Young designed what he thought was a 'perfect' loco for preservation lines, being a modified Austerity 0-6-0ST but with sloping side tanks. Given the IOWSR's Austerity tanks' major usage for the last 20 years or so, he was probably not far off the mark.

Most preserved locos are not 'perfect'. A Jos Koopmans 're-draughting' and attention to the valve gear as per Don Ashton, would give very good results, and we could even go forward with the Wardale 5AT project.

Cheers,

Julian

 

Fortunately it would be out of gauge!

 

I see many are asking the genies to build a class of loco that previous worked but of which there are no longer any remaining. I would go the other way and get them to design and build a completely new class using advances in our knowledge, technology and engineering since the last standard steam loco was designed from scratch in the UK. My guess is it would look a bit like an updated standard class 4 or 5, either tank or tender version as that sort of class seems ideal for most preserved lines in the UK in terms of power, weight and efficiency and are suitable to trundle on main line.

I would call them the genie class and I was going to suggest naming after famous genies in fairy stories etc but struggling to think of any so may have to expand to include fairies, nymphs, elves etc although I am not sure Tinkerbell would be that popular a name amongst crews. Firing would be done mechanically some way and maybe even driving could be computerised in some way. The possibilities are endless

 

It's only got to go through once, after that it'll fit then!

 

The OP said it had to be suitable.......

 

what about an LB&SCR K? I do like the LBSCR tank locos. An L would be nice, but maybe not practical.

 

How about the Raven/Gresley Class A8 4-6-2T? Long lived, powerful, only killed off by the rise of the DMU

 

There are different kinds of genie, so you could always have those as names:

Marid
Ifrit
Shaitan
Si'la
Hamzad
Amir

 

Didnt Peter Smith think it was a better loco than the 4F?

 

The ideal loco for the reinstatement of the Somerset and Dorset - at the start anyway, before a few 9Fs are needed!

Peter

 

Are any of us actually competent to do that in any meaningful way? Especially since most of the engineering advances would be invisible?

 

How about a GCR 4-4-2T?

 

LNWR 19" goods 4-6-0

cheap, reliable ,powerful , good looking , light axle loading … what more could you want?

 

That would be my choice of ideal new build engine. A Thompson L1 modified to become an L4. I have thought about this before as it has all the ideal requirements and can dust off the photos of them made in model form again, which I have posted elsewhere on the forum if needed.

 

How about a L&Y 2-4-2T?

 

The "perfect" loco for the NYMR* will be of a different specification to the "perfect" loco for the Foxfield Railway*. So this is a discussion that will go round in circles.


*Other railways are available

 

You need Trevithick’s fourth locomotive for that ...



Tom

 

What about a Taff Vale A class 0-6-2T. At least 4 versions existed original boiler/GWR re-boilerd, square/round top edge side tank. A versatile mixed traffic type that operated heavy coal and passenger services up to 1957.