Swanage Railway General Discussion

4EPB coach no. 15396 from Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway at Hunsbury Hill. The two driving coaches are off to somewhere else, and the double deck coach is going to join the other one at Hope Farm at Sellindge.

 

Thanks.

 

And while we are asking questions, what is the boiler off that is behind that coach? Just curious.

Peter

 

That’s for ‘The Bug’ rebuild Peter

 

Off 31806 if memory serves me right Peter.

 

Thanks, that figures. I guess that it is ultimately destined for the N class, but not any time soon by the looks of it.

Peter

 

A shame that yet another ‘preserved’ EMU vehicle is being lost. However at least the parts will be put to good use. There are still two unrestored Bulleid coaches at Swanage with a lot of missing parts, so seems a sensible move in that respect.

 

Half term service
Manston on the 10:40 from Norden at School Lane Crossing today and on arrival at Swanage with the 15:40 from Norden (during a futile attempt to collect a prescription for my father from his chemist).

 

The carriage part is nearby as well

Tom

 

From the Swanage Mogul fund FB page they say they are fundraising to get the old 31806 boiler overhauled to fit onto 31874.

 

I have been told 15396 arrived on Thursday 9th February.
Apparently the lack of suitable 'coupling' precluded it from being moved safely to Corfe where the volunteer C&W Dept have their base. As some readers may be aware these trailer coaches had a central sprung buffer with a sizeable set of chain links underneath it holding the spring under compression. Apparently, adaptations, to make it something like compatible with 'normal' couplings, would have taken some time and at some cost which would have made the original cost impractical.

 

Im not sure the Fund are really a thing anymore. Between 2017-2019 it was reported a load of people behind it moved on. And the FB page hasn't been updated since December 2020 to report the swap.

 

The trust seems to be concentrating on getting 563 finished, when it should have enough operational steam engines, then after that might be 31874 or 30120 to be overhauled?

 

And the website since 2019

 

Can the carriage be stripped of useful parts at Norden (then scrapped?) rather than Corfe, but guess all the tools and storage is at Corfe?.

 

The SR is a railway - it's not impossible to move tools and stripped parts between the sites it serves!

 

31874 overhaul is basically complete I believe, apart from needing a boiler. One was overhauled for it but then used on 31806 instead. So as much of the work is done, I imagine attention will next turn to getting 31874 finished.

120 is a possibility if agreement can be reached with the NRM.

There is also 31625 in the background which may happen one day?

I believe 30053 is due back in action this year as well? Swanage does seem to have quite an array of smaller locos now, which will reduce it’s reliance on SLLs Bulleids.

 

Thought that was in place as part of a long term loan, perhaps after 31874 which is nearer completion?, dependant on SR trust raising funds for an assessment and then the overhaul if possible (but the press release does not say how it will be funded)?
https://www.swanagerailwaytrust.org/post/victorian-t9-locomotive-to-remain-at-the-swanage-railway
"The new agreement includes provision for the limited disassembly of the locomotive – including a lift of the boiler lift – so that the Swanage Railway Trust can assess the potential for the locomotive to be returned to steam."
"Volunteer Matt McManus, of the Swanage Railway Trust, said: “The T9 has been a popular member of the Swanage Railway locomotive fleet for some years now and we are delighted to have reached agreement with the National Railway Museum for the T9 to stay in our care and, hopefully, be overhauled and returned to service.”
“No timetable has yet been set for the engineering assessment of No. 30120, although the Swanage Railway is keen to complete this as soon as possible for it to be included in its overall motive power plan.""

 

I don't think 31874 will get attention 'next'; once 30053 and 543 are done, the T3 people will be working on 30120 next. The company will be looking at SLL's 80104 as that will be further ahead of 31874 in terms of boiler repairs, and they were party financing it.

 

A couple of Manston from today. Lovely weather but the wife wanted to do some gardening and being Valentines day seemed it would be rude to say I was off out as she would put it "trainspotting", at least that was what she called it the other day.
So the last two trains from Norden, the 15:40 on the approach to Harmans Cross, and the late running 17:05 (sunset was way better if it had been on time) passing King George's Field.