Tornado

The implication of that Facebook posting is that (a) the military connection is a Good Thing and (b) it is so obviously a Good Thing that they don't need to explain it. Some of us may be in doubt.

 

At first glance i thought nice... but how is this of any help toward the running/building of steam locos. ?
However the other ball the trust is juggling with at the moment is the new premises at Darlo. and significant assistance has been given by armed forces groups there esp in track laying...
Also interesting that, Huw P , Graham BJ have not exited stage left chased by a bear as has been infered... but are not listed as trustees. Plus folks ive never heard of who are...

 

Yes indeed, I’m also unclear how this sort of thing accords with the Trust’s mission as stated on the Charities Commission site …..
“Activities - how the charity spends its money
To build, preserve, operate and exhibit for public benefit, for educational benefit and instructional purposes locomotives of historical or scientific importance, in particular a peppercorn (sic!) class A1 express passenger locomotive”

https://register-of-charities.chari...ch/-/charity-details/1022834/charity-overview

 

Signing up would not in itself cost the charity any money ? Perhaps there is a PR benefit as presumably it was thought that the Sunak visit and pictures would generate additional funds.

 

One would hope so, though using Sunak for publicity given his current popularity looks like an own goal to me? Similarly I can’t see how pics of the Trust’s heirarchy trussed up in DJs at formal beanos prising opening the wallets of the hard pressed populace?

Personally I’d far rather see more pictures of the actual work taking place on the locos here and in Germany, so we can see where the money is going.

 

More shooting yourself in the face (to keep the military theme going).

 

Another Email today listing a lot of things to be done at the GCR. Will this saga ever end? We all want to see it back in action but this sadly mismanaged affair has left a lot of other organisations out of pocket and a lot of customers disappointed. There is now a huge credibility gap to fill and I note that nowhere in the last communications I've had has anyone said sorry.

 

Quite Right!

What swung it to Meiningen - quite over and above the price - was that Meiningen undertook to make the boiler to their own German specification and include an insurance certificate ensuring there would be no difficulty underwriting the risk on the insurance market.

However, the A1 trust had hoped to maintain it piecemeal, British style, it turned out that this would not do and it had to be treated as in Germany i.e. cut an oval plate out of the boiler and test it, if passes make the hole good, if not have a new replacement boiler.

 

Tornado is still in the shed at Loughborough and it is clear what a huge job it has been to fit all the new systems to the locomotive. Here is a picture of what is now fitted under the cab floor.

 

I wonder how all that is going to stand up to the general rigours of a footplate environment, i.e. dropping ash, coal dust, washing down cab floor with jets of hot water from a pep pipe, vibration etc. It's a generally harsh environment.

Tom

 

Yes, indeed, Tom. I hope they have drilled a drain hole or two.

 

Not compared to, say, the installation environment on a deep water submarine. There's no doubt that sort of environment *can* be engineered to be protected safely and securely. There has, of course, also been a recent demonstration of what happens if short cuts are taken for convenience or to save money...

 

Top marks to the folk who are plumbing that job in. It'll be ready when it's ready. I marvel at the engineering skills of these people.

 

Not exactly maintenance-friendly though. Lack of accessibility would mean removing components and tubing unnecessarily. Covered but not water- or dustproof.

 

Knowing one or two of the people involved with the plumbing, I can vouch for their skills and for the efforts made to try and rationalise the pipework compared to what was there before.

 

Incidentally, Thales have been involved with a lot of the installation I believe and submarines are one of their specialties. Going way back to the discussions about being first in line for the new kit, it's not insignificant to be able to bring them on as a partner for potentially zero cost.

It is a harsh environment but I would also say not dissimilar to conditions in a modern factory where computer controlled machinery is involved. Hot liquids, fine corrosive and abrasive particles and the need to spray the whole lot down with detergent and a steam cleaner to wash it.

It looks like a very neat and professional installation. Looking at the complexity of one small part of the installation it should be no surprise it has taken a little longer than expected. With everything that's been thrown at loco owners over the past few years I can't really get my head around the vitriol that is being cast at the Tornado group in this thread. It's not like it's the first overhaul that's been delayed. I've seen nothing but praise for the other Peppercorn Pacific, and that's taken 20+ years to get to running again.

 

Perhaps if it had been used to sell tickets to charter trains and heritage railway events for the past 2 years it wouldn't be flavour of the month either...also its privately funded and any cock ups aren't coming out of someones donations.

 

Thales recently sold their transport business to Hitachi. I suspect that submarines remained with the Thales mother ship though. So probably not relevant.

 

No maintenance required, just fill the tray with oil and hey presto....

 

Is this Mr. Bulleid speaking from 'the other side'?
Pat