18000 'Kerosene Castle'

I just had a quick read of the good article about it and the Metro Vick one. Is in the Great western echo Spring 2017. Seems it was very unreliable and in and out of Swindon works constantly with problems with the jet engine blades, traction motors, steam heat etc. The Metro Vick one seems to have been a bit better but needed the bogie frames strengthening. Says in the article they are looking for volunteers to help restore it, but not to working condition of course and plan to repaint it in the original GWR colours.

 

Thats the one, no livery froth here.........it was black

 

Amazing what you could fit in those council houses on Pinehurst!

 

The £100 car Mate of mine had the owners handbook for one. More a service manual than a list of features - from the days when the owner was expected to decoke his own engine and the handbook told you how to do it

 

no---- it was always 18000

 

the 1st pic is Old Oak Common

 

it was never a GWR loco . BR(W) yes

 

But wasn't it ordered by the GWR?

 

It can be argued otherwise given that it was ordered by the GWR in 1946 hence taken over by BR(WR) as part of the Nationalisation process. A case of Grandad's hammer methinks so I will leave the philosophers to continue that particular discussion.

 

Well, I'm pleased to have been 'set right' about to which loco the term "Kerosene Castle" was applicable to

 

Three times!

 

I think that qualifies as "well, that's you told then!"

 

So what was the engine etc fitted to this loco? and what design of engine was it, and is there any modern version of this engine from another use that might have been made,

 

I suspect it wouldn't unless the out of gauge mods to one bogie were reversed.
I imagine if Nationalisation hadn't come along , it would have been GWR green, but instead it came out as BR black, as did 18100. Mixed Traffic livery I guess.

 

The response that it was never a GWR locomotive was in response to a suggestion that it could be repainted into original GWR colours (as per the quote at the top), thus it is correct in that context in that it never had 'original GWR colours'.

 

Isn't that the reason Kings have that rather odd front bogie...?

 

no

 

There is an ?unpublished photo of 18000 in Switzerland with a definite pair of 8000 numbers and a hastily added non matching 1s, which all others show as the more Ivatt Diesel 18000 Aluminium Gill sans ones. My supposition it was to be GWR 8000. The Black and Silver was not mixed traffic, but rather for the Jet Age(and diesels and EM2s) first applied by the LMS on 10000. The WR then did it again by using Crewe's not needed Duchess maroon paint on its Warships, after persuading BR to adopt it's livery elsewhere, of course!

 

Kerosene Castle? A member of the 4 Star class?

 

It was fitted with a gas turbine