FOR SALE - NVR Polish tank Loco 'THE MEG'

Standard Gauge Steam Locomotive For Sale | eBay

Excellent Condition - Working Order, but is in need of new boiler certificate.

If I was wealthy and had somewhere to run it I would take it.

 

Hasn't this loco appeared on ebay before? Can't see it having a future in the UK away from the NVR due to it's loading guage and the fact it only has air brakes. £36.5k does seem quite cheap though - the post advert seems to imply all it needs is a re-tube.

 

I think the loco would fit the Great Central as well but as you said, being air braked it could only pull continental stock.

It would do very well going to somewhere like Longveuille in France.

 

If you had the money to buy it im sure that you could afford the cost of fitting vaccume brakes to it

 

If the braking issue could be resolved I'm sure somewhere like the Avon Valley or East Somerset (maybe even the Churnet Valley?) would provide a decent home for it...

 

Don't forget this is a physically big loco, built to 'Berne' gauge - see the attached photos for a comparison in size with a standard BR goods van. One of the main problems with the Continental loading gauge is that it is straight sided, and this 'straight sided-ness' comes down to a low level when compared with British stock. Therefore the platform clearances are usually the issue when it comes to running 'foreign stuff' on UK railways, rather than the more obvious bridge/tunnel clearances which are usually fairly generous (although these of course would also have to be considered).

Personally I'd like to see it return to the Continent, where it would perhaps be more appreciated. I understand it became quite a reliable loco in recent years, once its earlier mechanical niggles had been sorted out.

 

The NVR can't have too many Continental Loco's left once this has departed, what with the Nord 4-6-0 and the Krieg already gone (though not 100% sure the 2-10-0 has left), only two left I can think of off hand are the Swedish B and the German Prairie.

 

The Polish 'Kriegslok' has indeed left (not sure where to - "a museum collection in Belgium" is all I've heard), with the Nord 4-6-0 going home to France, at Longueville.

However there are still a few 'Continentals' left at the railway, ignoring the Polish tank and with the aid of the NVR stock book they are (in no particular order):

- Danish 'F' Class 0-6-0T No.656 nicknamed "Tinkerbell", built 1949 (in the overhaul workshop undergoing restoration and coming together nicely, although the boiler is yet to be tackled)

- Swedish 'S' Class 2-6-2T No.1178 built 1914 (undergoing protracted overhaul in the old shed, nearly every part on this one is worn out)

- Swedish 'B' Class 4-6-0 No.101A, built 1944 (cosmetically restored and now the first engine you see on static display outside at Wansford)

- West German (DB) Class 64 2-6-2T No.64.305, built 1934 (under cover in the shed)

- Belgian Cockerill Tram loco 0-4-0 No.1626 (in the shed being rebuilt as closely as possible to an LNER 'Y6' outline by its new private owner, so might come off the 'foreign' list in a few years??)

- Danish 'E' Class 4-6-2 No.996, independently owned and stored by Railworld adjacent to Peterborough Nene Valley station

- Not a loco, but Swedish railbus No.1212 which returned to the railway recently, after many years away.

 

There's also still Danish F Class no. 656 Tinkerbell and Swedish 2-6-4 tank 1178. Both of which are dismantled in the sheds. Both had stalled for some time, however work has recommenced on Tinkerbell so the only real outstanding work is the boiler.

101, the B class, was cosmetically overhauled last year by the International Railway Preservation Society so now takes pride of place at Wansford by the carpark with the two Wagons-Lits vehicles. A much improved site compared to the previous 'death row' of rotting Continental locos.

Edit: Paul beat me to posting!

 

If you're interested in a bit more info on the B Class, the E Class or the Railbus there's some up on: The International Railway Preservation Society

The Railbus has seen significant work on it in the last year and will be formally launched back into traffic on the 14th October.

 

While sort of on the subject, does the "B" have vac brakes or is the MK1 set dual braked ?, as that was the combo operating on my first visit to Wansford.

 

AFAIK the Swedie B had/has vacuum brakes as well as air.

 

Mk1 set vac only, Continental coaches air only I believe. May well be wrong on this, but I think the TPO coaches might be dual braked.

 

There was a bizarre sight many years ago when the N7 visited. The Swedie B was working the Mk.1 set while the visiting N7 was working the continental set. Talk about mismatching things.

 

Only at NVR!!

 

She has been sold! but who to?

 

Not for much longer - the UK's only international railway now does a decent job of being quite generic...

 

On the Contrary, the International side of things is still thriving, albeit with no European Steam locos operational at the moment.

The International Railway Preservation Society, based at the line have returned Swedish Railbus no. 1212 to the line last year (it was based here in the 70's) and spent the last year restoring it. The launch of the vehicle was a fortnight ago. (It is on our website, but hasn't been updated in a while as we're in the process of launching a new site.)
See https://www.facebook.com/irps.nvr for more details.
The first class Belgian coaches we have on the line have all been overhauled by the carriage works in the last 5 years. Plans are afoot to overhaul all the Danish coaches using volunteer labour.
IRPS have also cosmetically restored Swedish B Class no. 101, and are working with Railworld at Peterborough to do the same to Danish E Class pacific no. 996.
Indeed IRPS, working on the continental stock, are now one of the biggest departments on the railway, both in terms of funds raised and volunteers working for us.
For operational Steam locos, work is progressing again on Danish E Class 0-6-0T Tinkerbell with discussions ongoing as to how to fund the boiler work.

Chris

 

A quick question regarding the NVR Mk1s, if you are the man to ask?

To run the Berne Gauge locos and stock the platforms on the NVR appear to have been cut back and larger steps fitted to the Mk1s to bridge the gap. But I notice the carriage still have "C1" painted on their ends - are they really still compliant to the BR C1 loading gauge with the larger steps?

Gareth

 

That's true. But there still has to be some historical accuracy.