4079 Pendennis Castle

Wouldn't work for a GWR plate as they are fabricated on a steel backplate.

 

I think they made allowance for that. I know you could pick them up for about a fiver. Not a bad investment

 

At one point it was possible to place a reservation on a nameplate while the engine was still in service. I think one of the plates from Pendennis was reserved by a chap sometime in the 50's, needless to say he never received it!

The letters were allegedly recycled from the original Duke/Bulldog of the same name, the difference being that they are solid, in comparison to later (post 1914?) letters which are hollow. As I haven't personally dismantled any original GWR nameplates, I'm afraid I can't vouch for the difference...

 

Didn’t 2 guys do something like this with the nameplates that ended up on 9017?

 

What I note is the tender full of coal. Are you sure it was withdrawn when this was taken?


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Yes it was withdrawn in May 64. I’ve noticed this in other places where a withdrawn loco seems to be foaled up ready to run. It didn’t take much to condemn an engine at that time so maybe it had failed and was then towed to Swindon

 

And the value of a tender of coal was small in relation to even the scrap value of the loco. You get to a point of a loco arrives for scrapping with a tender of coal, it is more expensive to deputise someone to recover it than just leave it. I'm sure it magically emptied itself over time ...

(I've heard stories that at the end of World War II, you could buy redundant US aircraft for less than the value of the gas in the tanks ...)

Tom

 

Most GWR curved plates were of a standard size of 5'8" or 5'9" (some 5'81/2 " I believe) with letters spaced accordingly so the weight of steel would have been easy to subtract if based on the value and weight of the brass beading and letters.

It begs the question as to whether Pendennis Castle still retains any original plates? If only for insurance purposes due to risk of theft, there can't be many locomotives that run with their authentic plates? I could be wrong though!

 

I think you may be right. I know Clan Line has two sets and normally runs with the reproductions. It also very occasionally runs as 35017 Belgian Marine as one of the members owns the name plates for it. 60103 definitely doesn’t have the original plates

 

I seem to recall several examples of plates at the NRM York of locos running in preservation. Oliver Cromwell for example?
Also at the Engine Shed at Highley there is a 'Leander 'plate which may be an original or another repro? Also Hagley Hall if my memory serves me?

 

Pendennis' original plates came back from Oz with the engine. The GWS has since fitted a replica set, although I can't say I'm in favour of this. A bit of electric glue on the bolts would make them pretty secure.

 

Thing is there’s always someone who’s willing to chance it though, about 30 years ago didn’t the lorry driver taking 92220 to Somerset get found out for stealing its plates during transit?

 

I hadn't heard that one although the original smokebox plate for 92220 resides in the NRM as do many other plates from engines owned by the national collection.
I deviate away from Pendennis - a long-awaited phoenix about to retake the stage. Well done to all at GWS for getting thus far.

Edit - in January 1986 per 'Nameplates on Display' by Ian Wright - Evening Star nameplate(s) were in storage at the NRM suggesting they weren't attached to the locomotive. I can't recall the dates when she ran on the WSR however?

 

That's the question though - how common is this sort of thing? The only other instance I know of is Copperknob. I'd be genuinely interested to know, maybe it's more prevalent than I realise. However my experience of preserved railway theft is that it's usually large non-ferrous fittings - i.e. injectors - which are targeted, often while in storage.

A set titanium bolts with the nuts welded on the back won't stop the really determined, but it'll certainly slow them down. Yes, having the plates locked away will make them even more secure, but what's the point of owning something if no-one can enjoy it? There comes a point when the effort to mitigate a risk outweighs the risk itself.

 

Shades of the final rundown of BR steam in the 60s. Recall the sad images of locos shorn of anything removable? On the IoW, brass nameplates were replaced with lettered strips and in my neck of the woods, Nine Elms was a sad sight indeed by 1967.

 

The general tea-leaves out there may not realise but a railway plate of significant value would be very difficult to pass on without being found out.
Unless said tea-leaf wants to keep under wraps for sole viewing I guess?

 

Just stamp 'reproduction' into the back of the original plates...

 

The irony is that many of the reproduction plates have now spent longer attached to their hosts than the originals ever did!

 

On the subject of GWR plates, it's often possible to spot the repro plates because the letter spacing is slightly different to the original. I am not saying that's particularly evident for 4079 however.

 

this one for instance is just so very wrong!