34051 Winston Churchill

Sometime ago it was hinted that 34051 would be unveiled at the Gala but it has gone rather quiet regarding Churchill. I guess this plan has been abandoned as there is no mention of this on the MHR site?
Perhaps she might be unveiled in January instead around the time of the Anniversary (30th January) of the Funeral train?

 

I doubt very much that Winnie would be unveiled at the MHR!

No doubt she'll be on display in the carriage shed where you can admire Ollie's handiwork!

I "believe" the plan is for her to return to York in December for the official unveiling at the NRM in January..........

 

Correct I believe the plan has always been for her to be ready for unveiling in January, He (she) is really starting to look the mutts nuts and Oliver and teams hard work is going to look damn good when up in York. I know they have spent a lot of time looking into every last detail of the paint work from photographs of the day.

 

I popped my head in the shed on Sunday to see 34051 now in green under coach.

 

Thanks for that. The last couple of special events have had the Carriage/Boiler shed shut with access only to the viewing gallery and all you could see of 34051 was this:

 

Poor old Winston was missing most of her cab fittings (as they had been used on Ellerman Lines) as can be seen in this picture http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wXbojhBRswU/maxresdefault.jpg

I was on the NRM book face page the other night and saw the following posts showing the level of detailing going into this cosmetic overhaul

https://www.facebook.com/nationalra...1414003120./10152748742767230/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/nationalra...1414003370./10152755069467230/?type=3&theater

 

wow..
is 34051 being overhauled for operation ?

There's a lot of new parts being made... a new whistle, new injector- for a loco that may never be used ??

34051 is one of the locos which could sustain a national appeal and attract business sponsorship if they did want to overhaul it.

Did 34051 ever get it's borrowed bits back off Tangmere ? (Steam Railway reported it borrowed bits mid-railtour a few years back ).

 

Considering the whistle is on top of the loco recessed in the casing its almost impossible to see, it does make you think about a possible overhaul to run in the future…. I did hear a rumour long term plan might be to steam her for the 75 anniversary.

 

There's only one person on here who can answer the above............... and it would be nice to see!

Having read some of the posts on face ache, I despair..... how can anyone comment about the "utter waste of money" without knowing the full picture........... the fact that the NRM has chosen to publish photo's of components being made from scratch does it not?, otherwise why go to the expense?........

Now, returning to thread........... looks like you're not going to get to wet Friday............

 

Maybe history will repeat itself, in that Lord Nelson fade into history and be replaced in the future by Winston Churchill

 

You never know........... but we have enough Bulleids, don't we?...........

Mainline, yes please!

 

The only thing I would say would stop this being a option for the NRM is that we aren't exactly short of Bullied Pacifics (Both in original & re-built form), and its not exactly like we are flush with Nelsons, plus I am sure the MHR is due to overhaul her again when she goes out of ticket.

On another note if we really want Winston running again, surely we could just put the name plates/smokebox number on one of the locos currently in ticket.

 

Posts for 34051 have been split out from the MHR Autumn Gala Thread.

the MHR thread is here..

https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/mhr-autumn-steam-gala-2014.231286/page-15

 

75th anniversary of what? VE day? (That would be 2020 - not far away). Build date of the loco? (That would be 2021). Churchill's death? (That would be 2040 - a long way away!)

Tom

 

We could say the same about 4468 and any number of other NRM locos...

But ethically to the none-enthusiast public thats not quite the right thing to be selling nor one they would easily understand.
Whilst we have a lot of Bulleids about, 34051 is a special one for different reasons to the norm.

I guess the NRM is future proofing, it wouldnt make sense to cosmetically overhaul it, then strip it down for a full overhaul, but having the parts available in the future certainly doesn't hinder any attempts at a future overhaul.

 

I suppose the other thing is they are putting right past wrongs where the original parts where stripped off to install on Ellerman Lines, as a keeper of Heritage that is slightly inexcusable.

 

Whilst doing a bit of reading up about the original bullied pacific cabs, can anyone tell me why Blackmoor Vale has black gauges as per the picture below?

The main reason for asking is I haven't seen the black ones on any other loco, even clan line which should still have the originals fitted, unless these were replaced during re-building?

 

When Sir Winston Churchill was at Didcot in the very late 70's, we asked the NRM if we could restore her for main line running then but they refused. Shortly after we restored Evening Star to main line running

 

Sorry for going off topic but 92220's first run after restoration was on 31st May 1975 from Leeds to Grange and she was prepared at Haworth.

 

I believe that the black gauges are original style with fluorescent paint that were superseded early on as crews didn't like them and the glow in the dark paint didn't really work at night even when lit by the cab lighting.