P2 Locomotive Company and related matters

No seats for Driver or Fireman I recall.

 

Trade Fairs were popular the world over. What I can never work out is why on earth the GWR sent Lord of The Isles to Chicago, a year after the end of the broad gauge!


[Image courtesy periodpaper.com]

 

Edward Heath's government refused to back 4472's American tour for precisely that reason...it turned out they were looking a gift horse in the mouth. The 1969 tour apparently generated substantial export orders for the exhibitors who travelled. But after the 1970 general election, the new government refused to endorse a second tour, and we all know the result!

Times have changed since then, however...tourism and heritage are now hugely important to our economy, and I would argue that they are only going to become more so. Manufactured goods are going to decline as our houses get smaller, and people realise the environmental cost of our throw-away society. People are learning to prize experiences rather than material possessions...hence the millennial obsession with 'travelling'. In that context, what better advert for Britain than a steam train touring Europe? It will inspire people to come here to ride the West Highland line, Welsh Highland, etc...

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Well, the Great Western was always conservative...! They also sent the replica North Star to Baltimore with KGV in 1927, so they clearly had a genuine pride on their heritage...except for a Stanier, unfortunately!

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My sense is that a lot of the ethos around the 192o and 1930s was around contrasting old and new as a way of demonstrating progress, particularly as railways started to have centenary celebrations in that era. The idea being to get your latest shiniest express loco, and pose it adjacent to some relic, either preserved or still lingering on in service. Hence the photos at the time of "Gladstone" posed with "Lord Nelson" and a Billinton 4-6-4T posed with the Brighton Works Terrier on the Southern; "Locomotion" on display with a Raven Pacific at the Stockton and Darlington Centenary; "Lion" being steamed at the London and Birmingham Railway centenary etc. The GWR were quite keen on demonstrating the lineage of locos from North Star to King in their publicity material, the similarity being primarily copper capped chimneys and inadequate cab protection ...



(Source: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1935SW-GWRLocos.jpg)

Tom

 

Very true. The modern-day LNER seem to have revived that idea by posing their new Azumas with Flying Scotsman and Mallard, not to mention their retro HST...!

 

And the LMS, with a new streamlined Lizzie posed alongside the replica 'Rocket', and using four tracks of the north Wales coast line for parallel running of trains headed by 6220 'Coronation', the LNWR 'George the Fifth No. 5000 'Coronation', and the old L&MR 'Lion'.

from 5.45 on.

 

Deleted as of minimal relevance.

 

Without the smoke deflectors (the first batch was originally delivered without smoke deflectors) the resemblance to a P2 is even greater.
I was lucky enough to witness 1.002 in steam a few times. Probably one of the more special mainline runs it has done was pulling commercial freight for Ford Genk

https://www.flickr.com/photos/petervangestel/7318609644/in/album-72157624610406253/


It did have tiny swing seats, like most Belgian built locomotives from that era. Considering the fireman had a 54 sq ft grate to feed through 2 firedoors, they probably should have fitted the loco with something a little more comfortable.

 

Harry Potter has provided more income for the West Highland than a new build steam loco with no connection to the area ever will !

 

Agreed, the West Highland Line is now in danger of drowning under the sheer weight of visitors. If yo7 want to go to Glenfinnan be there before 9 or you can’t park and the hill above the Viaduct is more like the Kop at Liverpool when the train is due.

 

Thank you so much for sharing this excellent and pictures of the mighty 1.002 WD196! I`m a great fan of this locomotive the ,heaviest of all (standard gauge) 4-6-2 in europe!

Knut

 

So it appears that they had a similar problem with exhaust obscuring the view as the P2s

 

Some iconic film sequences there. Does anybody know the date when the last train was worked by a Duchess with the streamlining in place?

 

May 1949

 

That George the Fifth is leaking a lot of steam from undesirable places!

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Back to 2007. As some will be aware the tender is progressing well but the update on the design of the cylinder fabrication might be considered to be of greater interest. The valve gear appears to be the remaining major design area to be revealed.

The progress should be quite cheering in these unusual times. Thanks to all involved.

 

The plan for the sequence of welding in the fabrication of the cylinder block must be a tour de force in itself, like a complex three-dimensional jigsaw. A quarter of a ton of weld! The mind boggles.

 

Excuse me for being a little slow on the uptake, but is there a link to the cylinder fabrication update? I can't see one on the P2 website.

Richard.

 

You need to look at the Facebook page. Apologies if you are averse, I do understand if you are.