Bulleid Pacifics - Past or Present

Southern Steam at Swanage have built new tenders. Surely they would have an axlebox pattern.

 

Looking at the 34007 website, I have to say, that's what I like to see! Proper BFB tender wheelsets. Kudos to the MHR and 34007 group for going down this route.

 

Yes that is correct as far as i know no one else has of yet cast new axleboxes , im not sure if the same pattern of box was used on the MN and WC but i have a feeling that the box could well be a standard southern design carried over from Maunsell designs but ive not been able to research it yet

 

Having had another look on the Wadebridge website I've found another liviery variation of Malachite Green. The loco is in Southern condition with roundel on the smokebox, numbered s21C107 on the front end and cabsides but has British Railways on the tender.

 

New axleboxes exist and several locos have benefitted thru the efforts of 34058 at its time at the AVR.

 

Make of it what you will, but Steam Railway magazine appears to be under the impression that Mr. Riley now owns 35018.

 

Seen recently in NVR workshop

Flickr: AlanW 44's Photostream

 

Until a controlled test is performed on an unrebuilt Bulleid, the theories may never be answered......but lets not forget that when 35022 was tested on the Rugby plant it was found:
"that the actual cut-off of steam to the cylinder bore : 'no definite or consistent relationship to the setting of the reversing gear, not only for the locomotive as a whole but especially for the individual cylinder ends'...................Particularly in the chosen shorter cut-offs there was a tendency for the actual cut-off to lengthen with increasing speed without any aid from the driver. The power output was sometimes found to be much greater than would be expected at these short settings and occasionally rose to heights which were theoretically impossible.
On one day 35022 showed a bigger drawbar pull at 15 - 20 mph with a cut off at 10% than she did at 15%. Next day the pull at 15% was doubled and at 20% was over half as much again.
In certain circumstances the locomotive pull would rise with increasing speed instead of allowing the decrease registered with other valve gears. (Bulleid, Last Giant Of Steam, 1964 S Day-Lewis)
So.......with a Bulleid boiler and valve gear.............who knows what could be possible??

 

Which goes to show that we never have found out (nor will we in today's safety-conscious climate) just exactly what an unrebuilt Bulleid is truly capable of. This indicates that although the setting of the revesrer as seen by the driver in the cab bore almost no resemblance to the actual cut-off of the cylinder, the fact that they freely operated in this way in everday service implies that there was certainly plenty of power in reserve. It's the ideal situation where the harder they are worked, the more power they bring to the table. I wonder what would have happened if they were fitted with larger-diameter wheels and roller-bearings? If they reached 90-100MPH with few problems with 6' 2" wheels, then the mind boggles as to what they could have achieved... Whether the coupling rods and crank axles would have stood the pounding, that's another issue.

 

It's a false paradise actually. The problems with the maintaining of the correct cut-off related to the clamping arrangement of the reverser (which is hydraulic) and nothing to do with any hidden powers. The valve settings and events were all over the place, and one consequence was that they weren't very efficient, but the capacity of the boiler tended to hide that. Larger wheels would mean larger cylinders, which would go against the design philosophy of smaller short stroke cylinders. They were already a bit short on tractive effort, especially when brought down to 250 psi. There was never a fully authenticated record of an original Bulleid exceeding 100 mph, but there were quite a few instances in the case of the rebuilds. Having said that, there was one occurrence of a very fast up run in the late 1940's with a brand new BoB which was so fast that control ordered it stopped at Queens Road, and the driver was taken off the footplate and never drove on the main line again.

 

This incident? Nine Elms Locomotive Shed - 'Jim Arkell'

 

Must be. Some of the finer detail is a bit different, but these things are bound to get exaggerated over the years.

Quite an interesting web site. Someone has been busy.


Amazing web site actually. There's so much there. Are there any others like this?

http://svsfilm.com/nineelms/index.htm

 

Interesting stuff. So the efficiency of the boiler effectively disguised the inefficiencies of the bottom-end, which is what I was trying to say. Well done for starting page 200 of this thread, by the way!

 

Reading RailUK forum tonight someone has asked a question regarding 34051. Did 34051 haul Winston Churchill's funeral train. I'm sure this has been talked about before on the forum. I was always led to believe 34051 did haul the funeral train. Does anyone know the answer?

changed identities - RailUK Forums


Thanks

 

This sort of thing seems to keep cropping up about swapped identities. I'd like to say it was 34051. Wasn't there another Spam Can on standby anyway in case something happened to 34051?

 

Again, see the Nine Elms Enginemens site (link in previous postings).
Jim Lester, the fireman on the funeral train doesn't hint that it was any other loco, it was 34051 brought up from Salisbury........with 34064 "Fighter Command" on standby at Feltham.

 

Apologies if this has been posted before, but I think this answers the question - Sir Winston Churchill's Funeral Train

 

Wadebridge was active on the Mid Hants last night pulling the Watercress Belle.
Wadebridge at Dusk | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Has anybody else noticed she is running in two tone green?

I thought my eyes were deceiving me at first!

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