7027 Thornbury Castle

They will always be complete and will always need to be maintained but there’s a world of difference between overhauling s runner and the initial task of making a Barry wreck into a runner.

 

Not so, I believe 45407 now has different cylinders, a new tender tank, substantial parts of the boiler have been renewed, along with lots of other smaller parts/fittings renewed, to when it was first preserved. 4472 was complete in 1964 when first preserved, how much of that has been renewed during the last rebuild??
Some ex barry wrecks as you call them were actually quite straight forward repairs in comparison to work that is having to be carried out to locos nowadays... There are ex Barry wrecks now having bigger repairs/rebuilds carried out to them than they did when first restored, Hagley Hall springs to mind..... 4561 on the WSR has had complete new frame plates and cylinders....

 

43106 has also officially never spent time in a scrapyard, but those 15-20 years spent outside apparently did add another add another 250k to its last overhaul.
There’s also a slightly tongue in cheek reason 75069 has a ‘Rebuilt Bridgnorth’ plate on its side.

 

The Ian Riley owned 5s are probably in the best condition since the day they were built. They have always taken a little and often approach to maintenance, with work undertaken each winter to keep them in excellent condition. This means they are never out of traffic for long periods and major overhauls are not as extensive. These locos are worked very hard for a living on a very demanding route, yet they return exceptional reliability. No doubt it helps they are linked to a major steam engineering firm, which means any major work can be completed quickly and efficiently (& to a high standard). I suspect a lot of material has been renewed since 1968 on all those locos though! At least 2 of the 3 have had some frame replacement IIRC.
Another Black 5 around at the end of steam was 45025. This was delivered in working order and operated in early preservation.
It has just returned to service at Aviemore having had one of the most extensive restorations undertaken on a steam locomotive (very fine it looks and sounds too!). Any residual 'life' from BR overhauls was long gone and the rebuild was probably very similar to a Barry restoration. Even if most of the components existed it didn't always mean they were reusable!

 

600 Gordon has never been to a scrap yard, 3442 as well. The poor state that 43106 and 75069 were in, boiler wise due the lagging being left on whilst in storage. You can bet 7819 and 600 will be the same. 600 may well be worse due to the known thinner plate used during the war.

 

Gone a bit quiet on the Thornbury Castle front? Didcot's grace period must nearly be up with no announcement of a cunning plan for redemption.

Me thinks the wibble had no substance...

 

Seems to be the consensus in the issue of Steam Railway too. Only one serious offer was entered.

 

Four Castles are at GWS Didcot today and each slightly different - plenty of room for another though

 

Which the GWS seem to have rejected because the person concerned didn't want to buy a load of spares that the GWS had bought for the loco. Seems like they're looking for reasons not to sell it on for restoration

 

The GWS - or rather the 4709 project because I bet it wasn't GWS proper - had bought spares *for* the Castle?? Are you sure that story hasn't got a bit garbled? Spares that were bought *with* the locomotive from the previous owner as part of the package, yes I can believe that, but that the 4709 project had bought spare parts *for* a Castle that they weren't proposing to rebuild sounds more than a little unlikely.

If there was a proposal to buy the Castle boiler and chassis without the collection of parts that I understood came with it then its easy to understand why the offer was turned down, because that would mean the GWS would be stuck with a load of parts they had no use for, and if the offer to buy doesn't include purchasing parts needed for the restoration then the credibility of the offer must be somewhat compromised.

 

Why is it I have the feeling it really wouldn’t matter who ever put a bid in, the goalposts for its sale would always magically move?

 

Big "Lucy pulls the football away just as Charlie Brown goes to kick it" vibes.

 

Because that's the story you want to believe?

The impression I have (and of course that could be just what I want to believe) is that the main GWS management were extremely unhappy about the whole thing, but having being presented with a fait accompli by the 4709 group were left with the challenge of how to get out of it without having the 4709 group walk out and leave them with a half finished project.

If the only 'serious' offer were to buy part of the package for part of the money, leaving a big pile of expensive metal with no obvious use then it would be crazy to accept it, and indeed serious questions might be raised.

 

Well if they all walk off in a huff and leave their toy half finished then it's a bit more to weigh in for the Christmas drink fund!

 

If that’s what you believe then a there’s a huge question to be asked about why did those in charge at Didcot let a tenant/stand alone group dictate their terms to them?

If this is the case a why hasn’t there been a statement saying ‘this is bugger all to do with us’ from senior management from the GWS?
I’m someone who’s a railway enthusiast, but I’m really not sure if the 4709 project are part of the GWS or if it’s a stand alone project.
It really is clear as mud.

 

Having watched Thornbury being reborn whilst at the GCR I am very sorry to see the present situation. I suppose I had hoped that somebody, or group, would have appeared with the funding to complete the restoration at the GCR.
I can fully appreciate why the GCR cannot be in that position of funding or even part funding such a restoration - their priority is to complete the Gap project and keep the Railway running.
Thus I am reluctantly coming around to the belief that the 4709 group will get to use the boiler as they wish.....and the remainder is stored ready to be built as a running "Star" at some time in the future.
I also appreciate that both projects are compromises in some aspects but would rather have running locomotives than idealised "what ifs".
I also thank the GWS/4709 for pausing the present process to see if a viable alternative was possible.

 

I don't believe the parts are spares, they are actually parts that the GCR bought for 7027 and now have no use for, the GWS are obviously obliged to purchase them with the loco. If the person proposing to buy 7027 does not want these then that must raise questions about how serious they really are?

 

Not really. The person could buy the loco to save it from scrapping and then offer shares in it or launch an appeal to raise funds to complete it. The problem is that people seem to be requiring that any deal must have all the funds to complete the loco otherwise its not a serious bid. Just rewind over the last 60 odd years and ask how many locos purchased from barry/br/industry had the finances to complete a full restoration/overhaul? The answer is probably close to 0. Money was raised after the loco was saved and over tge following years as work proceeded.
So why all of a sudden is all the money required to be available for 7027?

 

ok I bite..... @ghost, what part of the collection of parts do you think is at risk of being scrapped.....

 

Well if the boiler is used on 4709 then I think it's probably fair to say that the rest of the loco would be broken up for parts, so the loco would in effect be scrapped