WD 132 Sapper

Andrew Goodman's Austerity 0-6-0ST has been out on hire a fair bit, Nene Valley amongst others, so there is a market for hiring out these useful engines.

His locomotive is to be named "Earl David" at Toddington over the weekend. Follow this link:

http://www.gwsr.com/html/latest_news.html

...and scroll down past the "Hogwarts" and vintage buses info. There is also a link to the Wemyss Private Railway origins of this loco.

I have often wondered whether Andrew Goodman might take on another or two of the same type of engine, there are certainly examples languishing on heritage lines waiting to be overhauled. (NYMR for instance).

46118

 

well if the south devon want to loan it under a restore and run deal, the guys at selinge would love to have a go at it, as long as it has a sound boiler of course, and plus, if we are able to save folkestone harbour branch, theres a nice line to run it on, how well do austerities /j94s deal with gradients ?

 

Your joking yeah ?

Google "Cromford & High Peak Line" \/

 

or visit Foxfield =P~ =P~ =P~[/quote:2n6rl1q4]

Or look at how the KESR has basically survived on Buckets since the year dot. One and a half miles of solid thrash. By the way, judging by what I saw when I was last at Sellindge, haven't you boys got enough engines to be going on with? I'd have thought that six was enough for anyone! :-k

 

well the two finnish locos are 5 feet gauge , so they are both no hopers unless someone wants to regauge a line somewhere, the two merchants are long term restoration projects , norman, our last loco is now at the swanage railway, so we wouldnt mind another austerity to restore and they are very suitable engines if the harbour line does survive, if not, then im sure that there would be somewhere that would want one, and as an ex army loco, how original would that be for the line

 

Not at all but they would certainly put on a very fine show!

For their size not much can beat an Austerity. I thought a GW 1500 with 17.5'' cyclinders might stand a chance but they have a TE of 22510 compared 23870 of an Austerity! Buckets they aren't!

 

i know what you mean i have taken the rebuilt thomas up medstead bank with 4 on and it just romped up by original, i meant an ex army engine on a line that is going to be celibrating the historical link between the area and the military
erol longsdale was out of traffic when i started down the MHR but i remember riding behind it in the early days, and for me personally, i would love to be able to play with it again , it wont be as nice as an r1, but when starting off you have to take what ever might be availible

 

Another poster above mentions the J94's on the Cromford & High Peak line.

I well remember standing at the top of the 1-17 Hopton Incline one morning in the early 1960's and listening to a J94 with two wagons in tow fight its way to the top. (I say "listening" because it was a very misty morning, and the loco did not actually appear in sight until it was almost at the top of the bank.) It was a sound that will live with me for ever. Each very slow exhaust beat was like gunfire, I could not believe the loco could take that sort of punishment. Truly awesome. These locos deserve to be restored and in service!

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Is Norman complete now, or is there still work to do? I don't suppose anyone got pictures of it, either on the move or at Swanage?

 

''It was a sound that will live with me for ever''

Same for me as a very young lad at Maesteg, Pontardulais and at the ripe old age of 11 at Mountain Ash. The recent B&R Video No.135 Steam in The Valleys is highly recommended for anyone interested in reliving those fine days. Mine is worn out!

IMHO the finest steam locos ever built. Built to last two years on the cheap and have lasted so long that they have been used on nearly all preserved lines, keeping many going through difficult times. Fortunately the likes of Tanfield and Foxfield have examples preserved in real liveries and can be seen doing what they were designed for. Shame others can not recognise them for what they are - very useful workhorses with interesting histories. Perhaps if people could find them in their 1963 ABC all would be different!

Found this the other day. if anyone needs a new boiler for their austerity they should talk to these guys in Holland. They had one made at Gorlitz!

http://www.stoomstichting.nl/HTML/index_GB.html

Back to the painting,

David

 

Totally agree with you, very underestimated locos

 

unfortunatly norman was not complete, southern locomotives, who own it, asked us to not do anymore work on it, it was only a few months away from being finished, it had been steam tested and we were ready to fit the cladding, but we have to respect the owners wishes it was a mid week move and so none of us were there to see it leave

 

I'd like to see Errol restored too I have fond memories of her from when I was ten and run round the loop at Totnes with her, ah those were the days before the HSE and you could get away with these things

 

The NYMR one I think might be on long term loan to the railway from some body or other so it may not be theres to sell (If I remeber what I read on the stock book)

'Norman' is at this time stored at Cofe Castle, possbily will be used occansionally once work has been compleated but I not to sure.

 

the one on the NYMR that you mension is Antwerp and you are right its owned by the coal board museum trust and might be moving away , the loan period is up and the north yorks dont appear to be that keen on restoring it , they are more interested in larger engines that can be used on the whitby runs, and rightly so, the trust have a meeting in june i believe and there might be news then
what you say about norman is interesting, we were told that there was a team waiting to finish the loco off and that was why we were blocked from completing it, so its going to sit up at corfe for how long,and need more work to complete it than what would have otherwise been the case , anyone from swanage care to comment?

 

I seem to recall (waits for shouts of "Rubbish!" from up t'Moors..) that the reason Antwerp was stored, and a new home is being sought by the owners is that it is still riddled with asbestos. I believe that having to pay out up front to restore something that is not a "glory" engine (ducks missiles lobbed by ARISE) was what had already put off any interested party. I last saw her in 2004 when up there. Externally she appeared to be in reasonable nick, but I presume there are the usual mechanical gremlins to sort out.

And as for Norman... well, if they wanted to take it over there to sit it there, that's their look-out. Just means you might have some time free to lend a hand with our J94! \/

 

what work with lawrence donaldson again? i dont think his nerves would cope with me, ,i know lawrence from his days with the MHR we used to be trainee firemen together , im going to see how things work out here first, but we still have 2 merchant navys to restore first

 

It's great to read through all the posts here and see the positive comments regarding these locos. I know just how good they can be from our two at Foxfield... the lads at the Yorkshire Dales Railway (Embsay & Bolton Abbey) get on very well with them there too and keep them really well maintained! On an aside though, the drivers at Littleton Colliery actually used to prefer the 16" Hunslets to the Austerities because they were better steamers and a better ride, even though they were a few wagons less.

Anyway guys feel free to join ARISE... we don't take it that seriously and the benefits are numerous... (or will be when we decide what they are! \/)