Hughes Crabs in preservation

I'm a bit fascinated with the Crab loco class and particularly what happened to 42700 - why didn't it perform well on the KWVR? How many times did they operate it? Was it already owned by the NRM then and did it steam anywhere else? And finally does anybody have any photos of it in operation?

Also is there any update whatsoever on 42859 on that private site (Binbrook?) where it's just hulking away? Surely if the owner has no plans for it there's no reason it couldn't go on the market?

Thanks in advance for any info anybody can give me!

 

There is a third Crab at the East Lancs No 42765 which is currently under overhaul which they hope to complete in 2010.

At one point there was a very poor website covering 42859 and Merchant Navy 35011 General Steam navigation but this would appear to no longer be available. If I can find it I will post a link. As you correctly say 42859 is currently stored at Binbrook and the loco is in very poor condition after many years stored in the open with little or no protection from the elements. Hopefully one day it will be restored!

The following sites have a few pictures of 42859 and 35011 (before 35011 was moved to the West Somerset and then Sellinge).
http://mostlyrailways.fotopic.net/c565336.html
http://the-shed433.fotopic.net/c660530.html

 

Found the link but as I said the website for 42859 and 35011 is very poor!

http://www.generalsteamnavigation.co.uk/

 

42859 at Binbrook is still dismantled at the back of Unit 12A. The Finnish loco here is locked inside the unit. As far as I know 42700 is at NRM Locomotion 42765 at the ELR is dismantled & under overhaul but I'm not sure how far this has progressed? Is the boiler back from Crewe?
Steve

 

Does anyone else remember the memorable (for all the wrong reasons!) Santa train that 2700, as it was numbered then, worked at Keighley, 14th December 1968? That was the first Santa Train that the K&WVR ran but was it the first Santa on a preserved line?
Over half an hour to get out of Keighley with the first one and I seem to remember taking something like 90 minutes to get to Oxenhope. They do far better these days!
2700 just couldn't keep its feet. The second run was a little better and wasn't Santa's Grotto in the Beever Tail Obs that they had there at the time?

Anyone got any better pictures than these two very poor scans from half-frame slides?

 

I saw 2700 on the Santa special of 14/12/68 but cannot find the slide I took on that day as the Crab struggled to get away from Keighley. I think you could well be right about that date being the first ever Santa special on a preserved line, unless the Bluebell or one of the Welsh n.g. lines can claim priority. The SVR didn't open until 1969. However 2700 had worked on the KWVR before 14 December1968. I do have pictures of 2700 working on 20 October 1968, which was probably its first day in service. It seemed to do o.k. on that occasion.

 

There was discussion of that loco on here a year or two ago. I believe someone posted The Crab is slowly being restored as the owners only number about 4 and they don't have that much money available.
It could go on the market, but if it's their pet project, they might not want to sell.

 

Are these online anywhere? And do you believe 14/12/68 was its last day in service?

The ELR is my local line and I saw the Crab in service there quite a few times (and was always impressed), although that was before I got a really decent camera so I look forward to getting some good shots of it hopefully one day soon... it's a very distinctive, imposing class of engine in my opinion.

Thanks for everybody's responses! Let's hope something does happen one day with 42859. Knowing the NRM it probably has more chance of steaming than 2700.

 

I have put them up on my Fotopic site: http://50002superb.fotopic.net/. They are in the National Preservation Index collection.

Re the last day in service, sorry I don't know the answer but it could well have been 14/12/68. I visited the KWVR several times in 1968-69 but never saw 2700 in action again after that date.

 

am i right to beleive that the nrm crab was originally at Bury Shed 26D in its BR days? that would of been interesting if it could of returned back to its old shed...even though the steam shed is demolished

 

42765 was in the mid 70s the subject of a purchase bid by a group at Steamport Southport. C.L.P.G. or Crab Loco Preservation Group with the catchphrase "Help us catch a crab" Awful isn't it.
Needless to say somebody else got the money together before we did.
Now where is that pen.

 

I well remember a comment from the late John Bellwood when he was the CME at the NRM. It was to the effect that the two most knackered locos in the NRM collection were Coppernob and (4)2700. I've no knowledge of what supported that statement.

 

2700 was loaned to the ELR for a time in the 90s before it went to Barrow Hill and then up to Shildon. The ELR did a study on returning it to steam - and the result is at Shildon for all to see. She's worn out, and in dire need of looking after from the inside out, something I plan to address soon. I'd love to do it as 13000...

 

she always looked well in the roundhouse at bh. lovely engine.

 

Ooh, 13000 - nice one, Anthony . What a fine idea.

 

Thanks Mark, one can never have too many red engines...

 

Very true, Anthony. As a Midland man, how could I POSSIBLY disagree?

 

Not long ago I heard that one of the owners had been in an accident and ended up in hospital.