Swanage Railway General Discussion

Any idea when the best time to catch 30120 out and about is? From the posts above it seems she is in fine form at the moment..! Similarly, is there a list of dates the ivatt may operate?

 

Have to say it gives me great pleasure to hear how well the T9 seems to have settled on the Swanage Railway, and continues to be performing well, as well becoming from what I can see on this forum a firm favourite for many. I've always had a soft spot the T9, finding it sad it was inactive so long, and then delighted when it was brought back to service on B&WR.

That said however, with all due respect to them at Bodmin, I always felt that place wasn't really that well suited for it with such steep gradients. On the Swanage Railway though, I really do feel it's come into it's own now, proving all round a fine fit for the line. I just hope this fact has not been lost on those in charge when 120's boiler ticket runs out however, for while I know understandably a lot of attention is on the recently acquired gem that is the T3 now, I'd hate to see it retire from a place that just suits it so well.

I mean come on, who wouldn't want to see the T3 and T9 tougher in steam? What other railways could boast to having such unique and elegant vintage machines so naturally suited to their line? The Bluebell certainly, but few others, certainly not as far as 4-4-0s are concerned. One can only hope another overhaul will be on the horizon for 120, as well as continued operation on the Swanage branch.

(Edit: Corrected 2-2-0 to 4-4-0, most shameful...)

 

Well if you are getting moist over the thought of a T9 and T3, what about the M7 as well, plus an N.?
I think you meant 4-4-0 a 2-2-0 is a motorised shopping trolley

 

Ahem! Plenty of LSWR provenance for a 2-2-0!



Tom

 

OK, where do j put my £1 coin?

 

Swanage Railway main line registered class 33 diesel on tour at Southport. Click onto the image near to the bottom.
http://www.railway-centre.com/march1.html
Photograph taken by Peter Marsh. <BJ>

 

The plan seems to be that the railway will be always able to field at least one working L&SWR engine from the T3, T9 and M7. Obviously, that depends on the NRM allowing the Swanage Railway to continue to be the guardian of the T9 and put it through a further overhaul and as I am not privy to the discussions between the relevant bodies, there's nothing more I can say on this subject, except that, like you, I feel that the T9 seems very at home on the Swanage Railway and hope that it will remain part of the SR's working fleet. It's always a joy to see it in service when I visit the line. It's one of my top 10 favourite preserved locos.

The T3 is a very different beast. I'm too young to remember T9s, but there are quite a few enthusiasts in their 70s and older with fond memories of the class and of course, you can find plenty of pictures of them in action in books about the last years of Southern steam - a poplar class and deservedly so. The T3s, by contrast started to disappear in the 1930s and were it not for World War 2, No. 563 would probably have not seen the decade out and thus would not have been preserved. This means that, assuming 563 does return to steam, there will probably be hardly anyone living who has ever driven or fired a T3, can recall travelling behind one or has photographed one in action. A working T3 will thus be a novelty to us all, whether we are in our teens or our 90s, but will it generate a fan club and become as popular as the T9? I have absolutely no doubt that it will and intend to make a further contribution to any appeal towards its overhaul.

 

I'd never noticed the mudguards before. Wonderful machines.

 

Any news on the N?

 

Oh yes but of course mustn't forget the M7, charming tank engine it is, as well as the N being the only one of it's class.

And yes I think you may be right there, I meant 4-4-0, blast I briefly forgot you count the wheels not wheel sets! Whoops, slight error on my part, thanks for the correction.

 

I certainly hope some agreement is worked out between the SR and NRM, particularly as it would seem to me the folks at Swanage have thus far both made great use of it as well as caring for it, just appears a no brainer to me. I'd say it's one of my all time favourites too, such a elegant machine, yet not so delicate it can't get decent work done on a railway like the SR.

It's a very interesting point you make about the T3 though, it has indeed been such a long time since it last ran, with few if any being around who remember it. Makes one wonder really, that if and when out 563 returns, drivers and firemen will somewhat have to began afresh in learning how best to operate it? With most other engines you got other members class that are running, or indeed if it's a lone example it has already been run and so lessons learned. But with the T3 neither of these options help much in this case it would seem. Perhaps the best solution would be to use the T9 as a base of reference when learning to operate the T3? They are of much the same lineage as far as I can tell, except for the positioning of their cylinders of course.

In fact that a interesting thought in itself, if any has the knowledge and opinion, how does one think the T3 will compare to the T9? I'd have to assume 563 won't necessarily be as strong as 120, will it? Simply just down to the difference of age, seeing as the T9 is the newer and therefore the more advanced of the two.

 

Well when I asked down the railway this time last year they said end of the year for the boiler coming back. since then we heard nothing on the N boiler, but reports about 4930 Hagley Hall's boiler making progress at the same contractor makes me wonder if some how the Halls boiler has jumped the list....

 

So many dates have come and gone, a growing number of people have given up believing boiler completion estimates. When I see it back I'll believe it. The whole story has been very disappointing.

 

I believe that the boiler for the N is waiting for the SR to free issue various materials without which there can be no progress.

 

Come to think of it its not just the dates that I've stopped believing.

 

On paper at least the T3 and T9 are fairly evenly matched power wise. The T9 is obviously superheated.

 

On a different subject it was good to see the commissioning of the new locomotive jacks in Herston works today. Big advance in capability of the works to carry out overhauls.

 

https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/events/detail/diesel-gala

Sorry Swanage....am going to SVR.
Reason why is that I had to book accommodation, get time off etc etc and unfortunately you put up details of gala too late.
Had to choose between the 2.
Hope its a good event

 

Cracking lineup at Swanage this year, reason I’m not going to SVR

 

A big thanks to the Swanage Railway for a most enjoyable day out yesterday. I couldn't make the Spring gala due to other commitments but the hiring in of 46521 provided the stimulus I needed to make my first journey along the line during 2019. "A cracking bit of kit" as how the driver described it and certainly, it had no trouble handling the five-coach train, which was well loaded in both directions. The weather was improving all the time and after completing my round trip, I photographed the last two Norden-bound trains in superb spring sunshine, by which time the wind had fallen light, preventing the smoke drifting in the wrong direction as far as my pictures were concerned. It was also good to see 33111 on the other train. I felt quite nostalgic at the once familiar sound of a Crompton pulling away from a station - taking me back to my early enthusiast days. I guess that with no operational DMU, all the diesel diagrams will have to be loco-worked for the time being?

When I am sitting in the almost inevitable queue somewhere on the M27 or A31 westbound, I often ask myself "How many more times will I want to make this journey?" but I almost always return home from a day at the Swanage Railway thinking what a good time I have had.