5051

Whats the latest on 5051 havent heard anything for a while.

 

It is currently out of ticket and on staic display at Didcot.

 

Are there any plans to overhaul her in the near future?

 

Whilst I appreciate that other projects are taking precedence at the moment, I do hope that 5051 isn't out in the cold for too long as she is one of my personal favorites. I hear the next overhaul will need to be quite comprehensive as she was leaking quite a bit round the front end on her final main line run in 2007 and I don't think it was just glands and packing.

The problem is there are quite a lot of engines at Didcot that haven't steamed for a while that deserve another run - 6998, 5900, 6106, 7808, 5572, 6697 & 1466 spring immediately to mind. Is there are plan as to which get tackled first - I think 4144 is getting the treatment at the moment.

 

Wasn't there talk of 5572 being done next? I think it's been said before on this forum that 6697 isn't in the best condition. 5051 and 4866 are probably high on the list of "GWS" favourites so maybe a better chance of them being done than 6998/5900/7808, but it will presumably come down to money, a gang willing to do it and overall condition as to what gets done when. I assume 4144 is being done now due to it's overall condition as I understand the overhaul is a 'quickie' and should be running next year.

 

Was it 6697 that had a tube collapse all those years ago?

 

Didn't it have a burst tube or something around 1978? I think it has been in the same condition since then.

 

Just beat me to it!

 

GWS has lots of exciting projects on the burner.. 6023, 4079, 2999, 7202, 1014...
whilst everything is under cover, safe and protected.

what do they say to make when the sun shines

I dont mind waiting a while to see some of them, given what else is cooking.

 

I do like 5051 though I really want to see 6023 and 1014 running. As said above, there are 5043 and 5029 out and about with two more on the way. It seems sensible to think of 5051 returning in 2020 or 2025 when she'll be more needed and will make a bigger splash.

 

So adding 5080 Defiant to the fleet as well might be a bit much?

 

Ben - I'm not personally going to object to "too many" Castles - but commercially a variety in the working fleet does help with bookings. If we did hypothetically end up with all 6 Castles in steam at once its going to be hard to keep them all occupied especially if they have routing issues with some lines. It would make sense to me if we saw 7029 and 4079 come into play 3 or 4 years into the ticket of 5029 and 5043, and then 5051 and 5080 come on steam a similar time later. Of course what will throw a spanner in this nice orderly rotation is those excessively efficient workaholics at Tyseley turning 5043 round in a couple of months as they did with their Hall! They don't seem to understand the concept of absence making the heart grow fonder! (Before anyone takes that the wrong way my tongue is very firmly in cheek!)

 

I understand that having too many of any class doesn't make commercial sense. We are working on Clun for the mainline, but are at least 18 months away without a huge funding increase. That will put us nearly half way through Edgecumb's ticket. If you follow that progression, Defiant would come online a few years later. Believe it or not, we do have a plan!

Are we being knocked for Rood Ashton's speedy overhaul? 4965 is the backbone of our Shakespeare Express program. She's a must-have for our business plan. Not to mention the technical achievement of getting her turned around so fast - I spent quite a few hours inside the smokebox myself.

We do commercial work to by the way.

 

Ben - I was very impressed by the fast overhaul of Rood Ashton - my comment was very tongue in cheek as I said! I'm sure that this can only come about as a result of having a very skilled team not only overhauling the loco but also monitoring and maintaining her in service to try and minimise the work on overhaul, and crucially to ensure there are few surprises when the "lid" is off!

I've not seen Defiant in steam so I'll look forward to that. Maybe if the economy ever recovers properly I might have a few quid to put in the pot without starving the children!

 

At the risk of going o/t but in the interests of completeness re extant Cartles I think we know the state of play with 4073/9, 5029/43/51/80 & 7029 - but what about the forgotten one - 7027 - which at one time was reckoned to be one of the better ones then at Woodhams. Is this loco now a source of spares for 5029 or a restoration job in its own right?

 

I believe that 2014 is a significant anniversary in the history of the Castles.
Think 4079 and 7029.

 

& 5054 plus standby's especially 7025. Not forgetting 6999 of course! Watching this on Reading Station as a 15 year old only seems like yesterday. I can't stop watching the dvd of the event.