7027 Thornbury Castle

Tender tank appears to have arrived at Loughborough.

https://www.facebook.com/114458853436676/posts/121247712757790/?d=n

 

Also on FB they say they have the outside connecting rods together with more spare parts in a container.

 

That also seems to be a new Thornbury Castle page on Facebook linked to her restoration?

Homepage is https://www.facebook.com/7027-Thornbury-Castle-114458853436676/

 

The tender tank and frames are outside Lbro shed......The frames and driving wheels are in Quorn yard.

 

Sorry Martin, I do not know what the plans are, and I am not a GWR expert. I will just be pleased to see it being worked on and, hopefully, steamed sooner rather than later.
Having said, that the GCR works now have quite a few locos in bits at present, 70013, 78019, 63601, 45491, 34039, 48624 plus the RSH tank 7686.

 

The changes in frame design don't really match up to CME changes, but those look like 1931-1946 period frames which generally get called late Collett type. Most of the other chassis parts are much the same for 1931-46 and 1945-1952 frames.

 

Sounds like we could be in for a long wait then. This loco has been moved around over the years without any apparent progress, like an unwanted child. Let's hope things are different this time around.

 

Do we know who owns this locomotive yet? He can't keep it a secret if he's going to be working on it!

 

I was hopeful at its last purchase that something would come of this Castle. It is a shame it didn't work out, but L'boro GCR do good work and I am sure she will be an excellent addition to the fleet. The GCR appear to be bringing in many mid to late BR locomotives or those which can wear BR livery so it fits in rather well.

 

Quite easy if you want to stay anonymous ,whether working on loco or not .If I've guessed the new owner's identity correctly I think the restoration progress will be relatively fast .

 

Well the transportation was arranged and completed very quickly! Although there are several locomotives undergoing work at Loughborough, each one has a team and they do help each other as and when needed. There is also the reassurance of having 7 working locomotives available.

 

Who cares? If it's going to work again soonish and be loved and looked after I couldn't give a toss who the owner is.

 

Hasn't it been publicised that its a contract overhaul with the GCR doing the work, I don't recall seeing Messers Hosking or Smith (for example) with overalls on.

 

I dunno. It depends (much like football club owners) if the owner was an arsonist, a rapist, racist, asset-stripper, arms dealer, implicated in a violent murder, money laundering oligarch using the project to 'clean' the money, or generally an unpleasant person who made their money exploiting people then no desire to see a loco working would make me welcome it.

In far too many fields, too few questions are asked about where the money is coming from and how it was made in the first place.

I do think given the loco's history, it makes sense to be a touch cautious. There have been many charlatans in railway preservation who have promised the world and delivered nothing.

 

Loco been moved to lbro today, picture on Facebook.

 

Did anyone ask questions when 92212 was purchased for the GCR? I think there is a strong possibility it,s the same person.

 

Hosking (with a g) and Smith both employ a large number of staff working for their respective organisations who they can then instruct to work on whatever project they want doing next, so they don't need to wear overalls themselves. It may well be that the new owner of the castle will do the same, who knows.

With the GCR, do they even employ enough people in their loco department to be able to do a restoration of this scale using entirely paid staff ? I suspect not, and with volunteers they will only work on what they want and are interested in. Alf may be happy to work on a Stanier 8F but doesn't want to work on that DMU. It is entirely the volunteers choice.

With contracting everything out, how much, perhaps £1 million ?

I am just guessing but I imagine the new owner will be that guy who owns Cromwell tools (and the 9F on the line).

 

92212 is owned by Mr Hosking, not by a GCR supporter.