7027 Thornbury Castle

That’s ok - just don’t hurt the little Wainwright ones

Tom

 

At least the copper caps last longer than Yorkshire cloth caps.....

 

A light Pacific boiler, a pair of A1x rolling chassis and an ugly casing. What could go wrong?

 

You order the wrong colour of paint?

Keith

 

Meanwhile....leading..... back to Thornbury I was able to go out for exercise today and this is the situation at Loughborough Shed yard.

 

I think The Great Bear deserves more ovation. Looking at the GA it looks like the Castle front end was originally designed firstly for 111 so it has a decent place in the GWR lineage. I am not an expert but it looks the same.The great man then decided it didn't need such a long boiler and the Castle arose.

 

Now there's an idea. Didcot built a Saint from a Hall, so why not build The Great Bear from a Castle?

OK, I admit it, it's a silly idea, the lockdown must be getting to me!

 

Holcroft, who says he drew the cylinders for the Bear, states that he was instructed to follow the Star layout with very little latitude.

 

Interesting, and agree on pics. Have I stumbled on a plan to rebuild TGB with a Castle front end??? Given the choice to rebuild Thornbury , as is, or as a Pacific, I'd choose Castle every time. If there was demand for a second TGB, perhaps a new build without robbing bits would be a better option. Though if you have a few million to spare GWR guys, I have a D600 warship engine in the shed ;-)

 

I think I may be responsible for idea to rebuild The Great Bear, but it wasn't really a serious suggestion.
I agree with you that I'd rather have Thornbury Castle restored as a Castle.

But, if Castle class no.111 Viscount Churchill had survived there might have been a good case to reverse its rebuild.

 

Don't give the GWS ideas!

 

It was mentioned a while back that some Castle wheels had been recovered from somewhere in a modified form and said that it would be the perfect base for a new build Great Bear.

It would be nice if the GWR new builds were of GWR locos that look different to most GWR locos. New Build Great Bear and the De Glehn compounds.

 

Or some of the Pre-Grouping Welsh designs...

 

Ah yes the Great Western purge of Welsh railway locomotives, truly merciless they were with their standardisation programme...

Few survived their western wrath, save for a couple Taff Vale Railway tanks and a few others besides.

 

Well they've got to have something to do once they've finished the Night Owl and the County.

 

Which is why we still have the survivors, which by and large the GW sold into industry in the 20s and 30s. If the GWR had kept them they would all have been scrapped by BR in the 1950s. There were a few pre group GWR tanks sold into industry as well which lasted until the late 50s, maybe 60s. Preservation near misses?

 

An ex Bury Port Gwendreath Vally Light Railway 0-6-0 called Pontyberem still survives. Bulit in 1900 by Hudswell Clarke & withdrawn in 1922, and sold into Industrial service, so was never allocated a GWR number.

 

Also Margaret at Scolton Manor.

 

No 2 Pontyberem was built by Avonside and sold to a colliery at Mountain Ash in 1914.

In fact, considering that only 3 PRE GROUPING locos built by the GWR itself survive the small Welsh companies haven't done too badly with 6 standard gauge and 3 narrow gauge survivors.

Gwendraeth Valley Railway (a different company to the Burry Port one) No 2 Margaret was sold in 1922 without properly coming into GWR stock.

 

Quite a few of the Taffy tanks lasted until the late fifites, a new build A class (Taff vale or Rhymney) would be ideal for most heritage lines