4270

I can't find a thread so have started this.

According to their FB page. The 4253 group have today at their AGM discussed a plan to overhaul 4270 once 4253 is finished.




4253 13th A G M took place today at Tenterden Station Buffet with 60 plus shareholders in attendance . A proposal was put to the members to bring 4270 to join 4253 to run on the K&ESR this is a joint venture between 4253 locomotive Co Ltd and The Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust a vote was taken and carried unanimously to move forward . The full details will be forthcoming.



Great news for the loco. With 1638, 6619 and 5668 down there. It could be the Little Great East Western.

 

If I'm not mistaken, I think it's been said here before that Jeremy Hosking is a Rother Valley Railway backer, and 4270 is located nearby in Margate in the One:One Collection, so it's an agreement that makes good sense.

 

It's the Kent & East Swindon.

 

Well, Colonel Stephens used to buy whatever could be afforded to keep the wheels turning. I expect that the footplate crews will fall out of love with the 56/66xx soon enough.

 

They'll fit in perfectly, what with already having a station ending in Road due to it being nearly 3 miles away from the village it's meant to serve.

 

By that reasoning we need one back at the NYMR, for running shuttle services to Levisham!

 

This is an interesting development. I once met the leader of the 4253 group who told me that he was very keen to keep the group together once 4253 was finished and planned to crack on with 5668 as soon as possible. I can see the logic in this change of course. 5668 is a set of frames, a boiler, wheels and not a lot much else. 4270 by contrast is a complete loco; it shouldn't have been thrashed during its time at the GWSR due to the gentle gradients and it has been stored under cover since being withdrawn from service. One can never be sure what dismantling a loco will reveal, but there is a fair chance that it will be in reasonable condition. When Robertsbridge opens, the K&ESR won't exactly be flush with locos capable of working a 28 mile round trip so if my assumption is correct, going for 4270 next rather than 5668 makes sense.

This does mean that it will be quite a while before the K&ESR crews will have any chance to fall out of love with any 56xxs! It also means that there will now be as many (G)WR engines based on the K&ESR as Southern locos - a most surprising turn-up for the books even though as you rightly point out, it fits the Colonel Stephens philosophy of getting hold of whatever is available.

 

I understood that the locos were thought of as fairly ideal for heritage line use? (Apart from oiling up between the frames, but that's hardly a unique problem to these locos!)

 

The rocking in motion isn't ideal, and emptying the smokebox really needs some sort of access staging to be able to do it safely.

 

I don't think I ever sampled 6619 during its active stint on the K&ESR, but I can recall both 6695, formerly resiodent at Swanage and 5643, hired in by the Bluebell in 2014, did rock the carriages quite significantly and noticeably on downhill stretches, Going up Tenterden bank would pose no problems for 6619 and 5668 when restored, but given that we are talking about a stiffer gradient than anytong on the Swanage or Bluebell railways, going down may not be much fun for passengers.

 

John, speaking as a guard who has gone downhill behind a Yank tank, the 56xx will be like having a rest!

 

Before 6619 arrived at Rolvenden, various people who had crewed it elsewhere, extolled the virtues.
By the time that the (extended) ticket expired, quite a few crew had already fallen out of love with it.

During lulls in different phases of the work on 4253, the group kept occupied by fabricating replacement parts which will be needed for both 5668 *and* 6619.

And 4253 group have taken on contract work for locos for other railways.

 

A custom built platform was used for smoke box access on 6619.

 

Didn't that used to be called a plank laid across the front buffers?

 

42’s also rock the train when not working, it really kicks in at about 22/23 mph but it’s ok, it’s not tooo bad on the footplate- just don’t serve any liquids in the first couple of carriages