2015:- The best year in preservation so far for........

No problem....and I speak as the man who recently wrote "...Eddystone's overall will cost more than £200,000..." on our website.

 

No it doesn't get any cheaper. Here at Haworth the overhaul of the two WW2 engines was very close to half a million for the two, some of which came from the heritage lottery fund of course. Good luck to Southern-locomotives with the appeal. Of course City of Wells or should I now say 'WELLS' took very nearly thirty years and I have no idea of the total cost. But they are back in steam with new boiler certs so we can hope we might see them on the mainline if cost of safety equipment and its fitting can be found.

 

??????
It really isn't.
It is pronounced Howarth, but spelt Haworth.

 

Yes we have sorted that one thanks,

 

Actually, it is pronounced how it is written. You don't say Warth valley, do you? (Unless you're from the deep south, then you might!)

 

Absolutely right

 

Oops, yes, skipped a few posts.

Ironic that I mis-spelled "spelled"...
Now where's that petard of mine...?

 

Well old sods like me call em senior moments.

 

In the local dialect it's actually pronounced 'Awuth', but Haworth will do nicely thanks (from foreigners) !
Andy

 

Going back a few posts regarding 35006. As far as I know the insurance company who witnessed the 2009 steam tests were happy that as long as the boiler was stored in an appropriate environment and annual visual inspections were carried out that they were happy to suspend the start of the boiler ticket. The attached Picture was taken on Saturday and a quick look at the gwsr loco blog shows that they continually come up against problems that no one can foresee. For instance, the drivers cab window appeture, marked and drilled to the br drawings, unfortunately the ex br window frame wasn't! The modifications to the tender brake rigging (complete new tender using class 40 wheel sets) has been a headache but progress is being made. All the cab gauges are currently away for calibration whilst the first of the heavily repaired steam pipes was bolted in over the weekend. MN's are complicated bits of kit and it's the bits you don't see that take the time. It's a quality restoration and they want to get it right.

 

Lets get back to steam locomotives. take a look at the correction and of course the new pics I have added.

http://steammemories.blogspot.co.uk/

 

The bits you can see (in your photo) look pretty impressive. Sure 35006 will be worth the wait.

 

I am sure it will, Wells took nearly 30 years but much of that was because the engine is solely owned by a member of the KWVR and the cost takes a good deal of finding and of course the volunteer help too. I have seen her in slow and steady progress over the years and the last time I photographed her was last year when she was demonstrating the Wheel drop at Howarth. You can see some more pictures of that stage on:

http://steammemories.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/bullieds-light-pacific-city-of-wells.html

There is also a video I did of the wheel drop in action somewhere on the blog. The photos show the result as Wells bogie was lowered.

 

Just posted some larger format pictures of 'Wells' for anyone wanting to zoom in for better detail on:

http://steammemories.blogspot.co.uk/

 

As far as I am aware, it is still owned by two of the original consortium of three ?
Andy

 

If anyone wants particular bits of the engine photographing I will be happy to oblige. Just let me know. Meantime I shall publish what I have on:

http://steammemories.blogspot.co.uk/

Prepared to be corrected on that, thanks for the info. The principle still stands of course in that even two people have difficulty doing a major overhaul on such a large locomotive, but quite right I am now led to believe Wells is owned by two.

 

If I remember correctly, the overhaul was not helped by the theft of some critical components some years ago. Was it axle boxes?

 

Only just seen this so apologies for the delay. I heard it from a couple of guys who came down with Braunton during the mid Hants spring gala. Being both Hopkins locos they seem like semi reliable sources.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Just to clarify from a while back, the Gwili featured earlier this year on S4C regarding TVR 28. Just because its not on 'national' TV, doesn't mean there aren't people plugging it. Also there will be media exposure to a much broader audience in January when Portillo is aired. And if anything, railways being 'social clubs on wheels' is the best part of it.

Speaking for myself, I prefer mainline steam because I want to see Bulleids in their near-proper context, but that doesn't stop me from appreciating the hard work going into heritage lines, and it was the heritage line network that started me off on my present trajectory into railway enthuiasm (although my grandfather fostered an earlier interest), not the mainline movement, which is rarified to say the least.

I frequently see the same faces on the mainline trains, and count them as friends and acquaintances, but what will happen when that generation is gone? Its the 'elephant in the room' where mainline steam is concerned, wheras the heritage movement will probably soldier on long after the last breath of steam dissipates from the network. However, to mis-quote who I believe was Peter Parker: the heritage movement and mainline steam need each other.