Steam Railmotor 93

Spotted going west (on a low-loader) on the M4 between Swindon & Chippenham at 15:10 today.

Edit: south bound M5 J17 15:50 off to Bodmin I'm told.

 

Bodmin bound indeed. At least one photo charter being advertised while she's there.

 

I hope it goes well, but I feel that such a unique loco on the Liskeard and Looe line will be heavily over subscrbed. It woukd be great if we could the Raicar out. But it would have to towed to where it is going from Didcot

 

And the problem with oversubscription is? Better that than a financial failure due to too few bookings.

 

Never mind, you'll have to run it every Sunday until Christmas. ;-)

Where will 93 stay between 4th and 11th Nov? Will she return to Bodmin, or is there somewhere secure at Moorswater?

(Mods - maybe this thread should be merged into the one in "What's Going On"?)

 

IIRC, the RM is going to be kept at Moorswater, Mark. I think it is mentioned in Steam Railway Magazine?

James at SVN

 

Apologies if this has been asked before, but regarding 93's trailer, is this being done purely for cosmetic needs (it look right for the period) or is there an operational need ? (do the connections differ from a standard autocoach ?).

 

Its as much that 92 (the trailer) is the only original SRM trailer to survive so its fitting now that the SRM is in action that the trailer is reunited with it (bearing in mind Didcot already has two other different autocoaches).

 

Thanks, was curious if 93 could work with any Autotrailer in the way a 14xx, 64xx or fitted 55xx could.

 

It's already run with W231 to test the re-manufactured auto gear on 93 against 231's original set. No operational problems that I'm aware of (but someone did get uppity over the historical discrepancy :rolleyes1.

Operationally, 92 will be useful to us at Didcot as it'll enable us to withdraw Trailer 190 for a long-overdue heavy refurbishment whilst still giving us an operational spare so that 231 doesn't get müllered. Also, as 92 has a corridor connection, it can act as a brake vehicle for the main demonstration set should it be required. Again, both Hawksworth brakes - 2202 & 7372 - are in need of a bit of TLC, and Collett 7371 is still at least a year off.

Another, albeit minor, factor in 92 being included in the Lottery bid was that it was by far the nastiest coach in the collection & it's highly unlikely that it would have been restored otherwise.

Pete S.

C&W Dept.,
GWS Didcot.