2999: Lady of Legend

They said they would have liked to have it lined in time for the launch but had to concentrate on getting it ready in other respects.
Edit, 21st May: deleted extraneous word that I only just noticed.

 

Lined or un-lined Lady of Legend is an impressive loco and a credit to the team that (re)built her.
I had a very enjoyable day on Monday watching, and riding behind, the King, the Saint and the steam railmotor .
A day made even better by the warm sunny weather, almost unheard of for a Bank Holiday Monday!

 

Indeed, I know Tenders have moved around a fair bit at Didcot (the most visible one being 5051 running at the end of its last ticket with 6998's Hawksworth example but now swapped back to a Collett tender), understandably as they have a few on site! Reading an old Echo over the weekend I note that 7808 is not attached to the tender which she was bought from BR with, instead being attached to one bought from Barry, having arrived at Barry attached to 7821 (coincidentally delivered to Didcot by rail in 1971 along with 5051+ Collett 4000 gallon tender), so no idea where 7808's original is now?

 

Confirmed in the new Echo that 1340 Trojan needs a new inner firebox as the original is not of weldable grade to be repaired, cost is c.£50k, with c.£20k to be raised.

I believe the lining etc is underway, only based upon a comment on the most Facebook recent update regarding the overhaul of 3650 noting that whilst they have the boiler off now they have been asked not to make dust until the lining etc is complete.

 

No. 2999`s tender with beautiful lettering/lining! A fantastic piece of art!

https://scontent.fosl3-1.fna.fbcdn....=49f286d2d3587052f00e14b78697f29f&oe=5D5AD4DD

Knut

 

The finest livery ever ?

 

No.

 

Shame they used the wrong frames.

 

Amongst "the big four" I would say YES

 

It's certainly beautifully impressive.
I must find time to go and see it.

 

True, but sometimes you have to go with what you have.
And only a purist and expert on GWR tender frames is likely to notice.

 

Perhaps their next one could be one of these? As you say, most people won't notice.

 

Is that a King?

Edit - sorry, just noticed the splasher. It's obviously a County.

 

That 4300 class has lost a pair of driving wheels and a pony truck.

 

What's wrong with them?
Apart from being the later version of the 3500 gallon tender frames. (2807's tender has the earlier type, picked deliberately from Barry Scrapyard as 2807 was the oldest loco ever to visit the scrapyard, in the days when there was some chance to pick and choose)

 

With a fictitious loco you can create your own back story, and as you suggest, it may be that it would have received strengthened frames as did some of these tenders (although the combination of strengthened frames and short "fenders" may be considered a bit recherche - perhaps someone with an extensive collection of GWR images can advise). The original frames looked a bit under-nourished, albeit they suit the smaller tank, which no doubt led to Collett producing the more substantial version (arguably he should have gone straight to Hawksworth's more conventional solution). It would be interesting to know why these Collett frames were used - concerns over strength (probably not, as plenty are in use), owner's choice, or because they happened to have a set. There is coincidentally a very recent post on the WSR thread (#19227) which deals with tenders and their frames (and contemplates building a new set of frames).

 

No, that was BR large logo, and I dont think that would suit 2999.

 

Only really suits locos built at Crewe.

 

Doesn't really suit anything.

 

The early pictures of Saints (e.g. http://www.thesaintproject.co.uk/Media/4-6-0ViscountChurchill.jpg) show boilers with only the rear half tapered, whereas later no. 1 boilers, including the one now on 2999, are tapered over the whole length. So I think 2999 represents an original Saint as re-boilered at some time in its life. Is that a fair summary?

In the fullness of time, when a no. 1 boiler on some other GW loco is worn out, might 2999 donate the one from Maindy Hall and get a new one of the original shape?

Edit: Or could the cladding on the present boiler be modified, making the insulation thinner in the middle?