The two repatriated A4's

I dont know if anyone else has also heard this, but at the Mallard 75 gathering, I was talking to a NRM member, who was at the bottom of one of the A4s, and telling him its a shame that they cant be left here now and once they go back, that they will be neglected again, and have things removed.
He told me that they may not return , as they did not know if they wanted them back, now lets hope this is the case as I believe that the boilers are good too, so it would be lovely to have all 6 running again on main line.
Again its just what I was informed and it was not only me he told, as others was there too.

 

They're both looking the best they've done for decades. I can't see why they wouldn't want them back?

 

I thought both museums had made clear that they wanted their locos back and were not interested in any deal for them to stay in the UK?

Tom

 

Well all I am saying is what a member told me on the day, they do look their best now, but like I mentioned to him, that they would be neglected again, as if this is how their museums treat any loco, they dont deserve them at all.

 

As far as I am aware, there is no membership scheme for the NRM - so what was this informant a member of?

Who first mentioned the neglect? It now sounds like it was you! I would be concerned if I was the NRM if anyone holding any official post was being so critical to visitors of the 2 partnership organisations who allowed their locomotives to spend over a year away so they could attend this event. Being polite by not disagreeing with visitors is something else completely.

Steven

 

Going by the sounds of it the two museums are going putting work into making displays for when they get back so I don't think they will be negelcted. Personally I feel they should stay in North America and Canada, seeing as we have 4 A4'sand 3 of them in steam, all on the mainline so the market is well covered (a reason why 4468 was not steamed this year) and there would need to be a large amount of meny spent on getting them steamable (in fact I think Heritage Painting said that they only used enough filler to cover what was needed on 60008's tender because it was not going to be filled with water again and I assume it was a similar situation at Shildon with 4489.)

Plus if they stayed it would lower the point of having the Gatherings which is bring the 2 A4's back for a temporary amount of time for a once in a life time event. Heritage Painting and Locomotion Facebook pages are worth a look when going over the consmetic restorations.

 

From what I read in Heritage Railway someone is going to keep trying to buy 60008 right up until its put on a boat...I feel it might be a bit of a fruitless measure...

 

That's quite an accusation - I assume you've travelled to the future to be able to prove this?


Keith

 

I am not trying to make any trouble for anyone, but only to say what this guy said to me who was wearing an orange jumper with NRM on it, but my concern is the state of when they arrived, they didnt look cared for at all when they arrived in Liverpool.
I hope that the guy who is after 60008 does get it as I know we have 4 but if trains like this was saved in the 60s by BR as proposed then we would not have to build them from scratch like tornado was,and mainline stock may be varied by ones never seen

 

As a matter of interest, were New Zealand and Australia ever offered 'their' A4s?

 

I'm not sure, but I bet they ended up with them anyway in the form of bean and soup cans!

 

I went on Wednesday and what a lovely sight it was.Whilst queuing to get in a chap behind me was telling his party how no.8 had come from the USA no.10 from Canada and no.9 all the way from South Africa.

 

Go and read my piece in the current Railway Magazine. 60010 was NEVER neglected in Canada - just we are spoiled with a government funded museum. The Canadians could only afford ONE coat of BR green paint as their museum is funded by a Society; over 47 years, any paint of one coat is going to wear thin.

Both engines were looked after to the best of their host museums' abilities and resources.

 

If they cant afford to maintain then, don't ask for them back

 

There's not enough work for all 6 to be on the mainline.

 

Couldn't the same be said of the UK? "Last time you had them, you were going to scrap them!"

Both locos were kept under cover and were saved. It's rather a cheeky thing to borrow something from someone, and then say "You didn't look after it to my satisfaction, so I'm keeping it!"

 

I don't think we really need them to be honest - personally I think there would be far more fun things to spend the money on locomotive wise that you would no doubt need to spend to get them both running again...

 

So Ive seen both of them in their naturalized homes in North America.

60008 can hardly be classed as un cared for... it has always been undercover apart from a few months during which they were taken outside to a new position to have a shed built around them. The loco itself was repainted in the 1980's as best as possible, using local paint / methods available.

60010 was also always under cover. The issue the had with the engine was inability to move it (Lack of a coupling device to move it) and therefore it sat in the rear of the shed. As the museum had less funds available to it, and difficulty in moving it makes it hard to keep clean. Apart from 50 years dust and very light surface rust, it was fine.

Seeing them both once again in the UK both now having had proper repaints and air conditioned buildings in which to display them properly will probably look good for 100 years.

Now all our canadian friends need to do is locate a few suitable coaches, the closest match would be some relatively unknown Mark 1s in Michigan which have been on display at a railway station for decades.

As for running them again... 4489 would look fabulous if restored with Bell / Whistle... but only if it were running around Canada / North America.

 

Why only Canada/North America? She carried the bell in the UK up until BR gave her a double chimney c.1957.

 

I think people should enjoy them and make the most of them until they return home back across the water. If someone is so desperate to see another A4 on the main line why don't they put a cash offer in to the NRM and pay for the overhaul costs of 4468 and all the running cost of the next ten years.