30777 to be overhauled

https://www.sirlamiel.org.uk/index.php/latest-news/

Overhaul to mainline standards and repaint into BR Green. Bit of a surprise about the mainline bit, it's not the most gauge friendly of locos. But I guess a 75mph class 5 will always come in handy.

 

How many likes am I allowed to give the above post? Fantastic news. I have thus far missed out on haulage behind this fine engine and have hardly any decent pictures either. I just hope she won't be so gauge-unfriendly by the time restoration is complete that she will be barred from her old stamping grounds down here.

 

Great news both for Sir Lamiel, and for the 5305 Locomotive Association!
This should see Sir Lamiel through its centenary on the Main Line, hopefully.

Richard.

 

Well Loughborough loco shed has got plenty of work to keep it busy!

 

Good news that ,I'm sure train timers will be surprised ,very strong engine. Do members like it best with or with out smoke deflectors. With out deflectors, taken leaving Banbury on a Stratford to Marlybone ,12/04/1986.I was told by a driver working out of Marlybone at the time that the deflectors were removed for a installment in the Poirot series for TV .They wanted a G W R engine leavingfor the S/West.Best that could be done .The photo' with deflectors taken at Carnforth after one of its first runs .That was on a BR train from Leeds.07/08/1982

 

Aesthetics I know, but I've always felt the big Maunsell engines (Mogul family / KA family / Lord Nelsons) all look better with smoke deflectors.

Tom

 

I - personally - think she looks at her absolute best in the olive green livery. I remember her fondly as a young GCR volunteer doing the travelling post office train demonstrations into Quorn & Woodhouse (in her BR livery). This is lovely news and I wish the team well with their overhaul.

 

If it’s going into BR livery then the deflectors have to be on. I always think it best to restore an engine to a form that is typical for the class. No 777 only ran for just over two years without deflectors and they were fitted for a good reason

 

For me the visual effect of deflectors is to make a loco look bulkier, the Ais Gill shot in 1990 was I think the first time I saw 777 without and remember thinking it looked smaller yet perhaps more elegant than when I used to see it regularly on the SSE in 1985, However as John sats the deflectors are there for a reason and for BR condition should be fitted.
I think the 2010 appearance as King Arthur was definitely a one off, it suits the matching green stock.

 

That Ais Gill shot is very nice and the loco looks superb.

 

Having run on the mainline fairly recently then I imagine she has all the gear, so there isn't much difference in overhaul costs, even if she may not see so much use. Great news though and I hope she will see some use, perhaps via Tyseley? They are used to tricky gauging issues and have used 45305 recently! Would be lovely on the Welsh Marches.

 

Dont have any drawings foe this class but it surprises me that anything off the southern is Gauge -challenging...

 

That would seem logical as Kent is one of the most tightly constricted parts of the national network and N15s operated over all the SE&CR main lines well into the 1950s, but as always,things have changed. I don't know what Kent would be like now but I do recall that in slightly more gauge-friendly Sussex, 30777 was replaced by a Black Five on one excursion because of a platform clearance issue on the curve through Chichester station.

 

Seem to recall that they are about 9ft 1/4in at their most extreme width - takes quite a bit of finding on the works drawing. Fine when platforms didn't have to meet the rolling stock as they do now. As such, it will be interesting to see where it can run, as it was one I missed on railtours.

 

I too think the SR dark Maunsell green is superb (I loath the shouty Malachite green), but BR green is very attractive too and it's how I remember express locos. But I'm sure we all agree over the last sentence and this grest news.

 

Ah, 200psi and 20.5 inch cylinders ...

 

777 "Sir Lamiel" passes 92220 "Evening Star" as it arrives at Platform 9, York station, with the Scarborough Spa Express on 20th August 1985....... I recall a volcanic performance from 777 on the climb out of Leeds one evening on this train....... happy days

 

Diagrams in Mr Bradley's book show the Urie 4-6-0s as being 9ft 0½in maximum width over platforms, with cylinders (21in) appearing to be an inch or two narrower. As an aside, the G16 & H16 were 9ft 2in over side-tanks - among the widest standard-gauge locos in Britain, making full use of the relatively generous LSWR loading gauge.

The later Maunsell N15s and S15s, including No. 777, were built to a modified design that brought them within the SR composite loading gauge and able to operate on ex-SECR & ex-LBSC routes - shorter chimney, different cab shape and slightly narrower platforms.

The cylinders of these locos are quite high and stand clear of station platforms at the height that was normal in Britain for most of the 20th century (2ft 9in to 3ft 0in above rail-head). This can be seen in the attached photos, taken in 2013 at Minehead. During recent years, however, accessibility requirements have led to further raising of platforms, potentially creating problems for steam locos with large outside cylinders that were previously OK.

 

Just for interest here's the LSWR gauge against the GWR gauge. The gray shadow is the modern BR W6A, which isn't very different from the Southern composite.