cct at Northampton and Lamport

A few images of a cct that once looked good and was cared for until it was sold to another owner .Such a pity its been left to rot like this

 

So sad to see this. It happens I think at most railways, (mine included).

Regards
Chris:

 

Yes indeed, it is the responsibility of the owner, not the railway.

Looking at the photos, whilst obviously the paint is in bad nick and it's a bit mossy, the wood doesn't look too bad.

 

It could be at this stage have something done if left anymore tho it will rot into oblivion .I asked if it was for sale and was met with a rather loud NO .I met the previous owner who had to sell due to illness and he was very upset about it as you can see from the other pics he had spent a great deal of time and money to get it up to his standards

 

IMHO the owners should be made to do something with it.

The alternative? charge them rent and /or give them notice to quit unless they do something with it within a reasonable time scale.

Sometimes it is nescessarry to do this for the sake of the vehicles future and the good of the Railway.

Regards
Chris:

 

Sadly, until there is a legal requirement for owners of historical artefacts to look after such, I think enforcing the above would be very difficult. The current owner could torch it tomorrow if he wanted to, according to the law.

 

And that would be his perogative..........

 

My point entirely.

 

Thanks for that Jamie, I was not aware of the present legal requirements.

It looks as though the present law need an overhaul.

Regards
Chris:

 

Yes tho I guees its a law that will not happen .Its such a sad sight to see something that once was cared for and is no longer

 

Tricky one - you can only offer any form of legal protection to an historic artifact if someone first designates it as an historic artifact. I suggest that of the many thousands of rail vehicles preserved, most would not meet any sensible criteria for what classifies as 'historic'. Being 'old' isn't enough to get a building listed status, so is unlikely to be enough for vehicles.

Plus, as a vehicle owner, what would happen if I wanted to do some work on my vehicle? Would the regulations tell me I could only replicate original materials, right down to using imperial screws and so on? This might actually hinder the ability to look after things rather than helping them.

Overall I'd like to see some protection for genuine historic artifacts, but I'm not sure it would help in a case like the above.

Phil

 

It would be a good move as you say Phil to have some form of protection. listed buildings can cost plenty there was a case in Kempston where they needed to repair a chimney stack on a Keep they had to take the whole stack down build it a new on the ground and have the bricks specially made and crane the whole stack back on the roof , cost was outrageous as you can imagine .If this applied to historic vehicles it also could be at a huge cost.

 

The host railway can surely insist that people who have stock on the railway's premises must either keep it out of sight of the general public, or keep it in good condition. This is a major problem with many heritage lines, and people don't pay their fares to view what amounts to a scrapyard.

 

Another way of doing it is to come down to the line, get to know the owner(s) and get involved. If this approach is taken the reply might be more positive than asking of the vehicle is for sale.