MHR Restorations and Overhauls

Back to restoration work, currently ongoing at Ropley. How's 75079 coming on? The MHR website seems devoid of any recent blog from the restoration team. At one time there was nearly a fortnightly update. With the sponsored walk coming up soon, it would be nice to see where the money is being spent on the progress!

Sent from my IdeaTabA2109A using Tapatalk now Free

 

My money's on the final day of the agreement or the day after, as the feeling I get from talking to various parties is, that both parties want to cut the ties asap.............. and now it seems JB has woken up to the fact that in reality he hasn't got a lot of time left to actually find homes for all his "toys", hence why the article was probably published, in the hope that prospective homes will come forward, rather than him having to find them!

If Bodmin and the Std Five are off to Carnforth as rumoured, that's two less to worry about, and money in the bank for him.....................................

Sounds like Alresford will be gridlocked at times that day, what would it be, ten low loaders? NOT cheap!!!!

All I know for sure is, there's suddenly going to be an awful lot of room in the head shunts.......................................... I wonder if loco's from elsewhere may migrate to the MHR?

 

I'll ask tomorrow when the next update will be posted on the web site.

Since I'm posting on this thread. Next years Spring steam gala will be from 7th to 9th March according to the MHR web site calendar.

 

If 34016 and 73096 do end up heading to Carnforth, as long as they pass an axle exam, they could always be towed by rail, but saying that, so could the 2 u classes if as i expect they are swanage bound, the n probally will have to be low loader, because the cracked frame problem, like Duty Druid, i expect that the MHRwill want them removed as soon as the agreement ends, and it finally puts the whole saga to rest.
one thing, who actually owns 35019, because i wonder if the agreement is that carnforth restore it, to main line condition and get either 34016 or 73096 as payment, then 35019 joins tangmere in the stable, and the money from selling the other, pays for the repairs needed to 31625 and later to 31874,

 

If there was a locomotive more iconic to a railway it is 34016 Bodmin, when ever i hear the name Bodmin even on holiday in the west country i think of the Mid-Hants line and vice versa, to think it might not be associated with the line soon to me is unthinkable.

 

Er, French Line CGT was scrapped in 1966.....

 

whoops, typo error, i meant British india line

 

Martin, I take it you mean 35018. 35019 was owned by the scrap man many years ago!
As for 34016 being iconic in the history of the MHR, I would have to agree. Things will seems strange for a while once "Bodmin" leaves for sure but once 35005 and later 34058 are in service it will hopefully offset the sadness of 34016's departure from a line that it has spent the last 37 years at.

Sent from my IdeaTabA2109A using Tapatalk now Free

 

Swanage, i presume you meant 34058? unless there are new built MN's about to be announced,
no bad thing, it would certainly help with the mainline steam loco availibility problem,
Iconic locos, well 31874 was the first ex mainline engine, along with Erol Longsdale, so either of those two, are just as iconic , times move on, people move on, what ever the future holds for those engines they are not at risk of being scrapped, so they will have a future. i hope that we will see 73096 return to the main line, there is a need for a 75 mph class 5 that can go anywhere, once if she does return to the main line, i can see her being in demand

 

Typo, as well. Bloomin Merchant Navy numbers!

Sent from my IdeaTabA2109A using Tapatalk now Free

 

aha, the Biter Bit!

 

Thanks - a date for the diary. I'm sure it will be a worthwhile occasion, as always, but 34046, 60163 and 70000 at the forthcoming gala are going to be a hard act to follow.

Yes, Bodmin and 31874 were the engines that put the Mid Hants on the map back in the late 1970s, and which will always be associated with the early years of the line for those of us who visited during that period. Of course, other lines have lost locos which played significant roles in their early years - 32650 at the K&ESR, 3205 at the Severn Valley and "Victor" and "Vulcan" at the West Somerset spring to mind, yet like these lines, the Mid Hants has been able to move on. We'll have to wait and see where the 5 JB locos end up, but no doubt they will go to good homes. It would be good if main line running beckoned again for 34016 and 73096. They both performed well with the "Daylight " tours and the first years of Steam Dreams. Meanwhile the Mid Hants has acquired some superb locos to replace them - 35005 seems to be the new "flagship", and 34007 and 45379 are lovely engines. One wonders whether 75079 would be on the road to restoration, whether 80150 would still be a sorry, unloved wreck at the back of a bus garage in Wales or whether 34058 would have ended up at Ropley without the need to find replacement engines for the likes of 34016 and so on. We'll never know.

 

I agree with you there John:

My opinion for what it is worth, (and from someone who was never involved with the Mid-Hants dring the JB saga), is that once the Loco agreement ends I hope that for everyones sake that JB and the Mid-Hants can move on and let sleeping dogs lie.

There are no winners IMHO dragging up old scores.

Kind regards
Chris:

 

If I were a betting man (which I'm not), I'd put money on 73096 and 34016 reappearing on the mainline quite quickly, probably after a visit to Carnforth's workshops. My only hope is that they are given high-quality overhauls and prove to be rather more reliable than some of Carnforth's charges have been in recent years.

As for the Woolworths, they would be an attractive proposition for almost any preserved line. It would make some sense to keep them together, perhaps allowing 2 to be in service at any time. Displaying the N at the NRM is an interesting option, and may be a medium-term solution.

So much depends on whether JB is willing/able to agree new repair/running contracts with other lines or whether he sells one or more of them.

I'll be sad to see these locos leave the MHR, but I agree that it's probably for the best, and I hope to see them all back at work elsewhere sooner or later.

 

Only the N is a Woolworth...

 

Strictly speaking, I suppose that only those locos assembled at Woolwich Arsenal should be called "Woolworths". However, AFAIK, the nick-name was applied to all the variations of U and N moguls, regardless of where they were built. Maybe it's something that varied around the region or over time? I can imagine that by 1960, few enginemen in Devon and Dorset were aware of the build history of individual locos.

But we digress...

 

I understand that another line may have already looked at the N with a view to getting it back in steam sooner rather than later. Would be good if this is true and it is back in working order. Pity it won't be over the Alps!

 

I know that about 15 years ago the Maunsell loco society were in talks to buy 31874 and bring it to the Bluebell. The Mid Hants / John bunch then changed their minds though and decided it was no longer for sale. I wonder if the MLS are still interested.

The other line that springs to mind that might be interested in 31874 is Bodmin. An appropriate class for Cornwall, and the Bodmin railway have a track record of acquiring new locos and giving them fast track overhauls.

Only time will tell, and I am probably completely wrong!

 

It was reported some years ago that the Swanage Railway were interested in it.