4449 the story

It did by mistake and it should never have gone there as I understand the MHR is trying to get it back for use with 4211 and 1456.

 

well as it wasn't owned by the MHR I don't see how they'd have a claim to the parts.

 

Some parts were though. They were given by mistake by someone you should have known better, but for oe reason of another he got rid of them anyway.

Chris:

 

another pic that belongs with this set. Pride of ownership (well 50% ownership) Me and my buddies scraped every bit of paint off that and I got to quite like Nitromors in my eyes!

 

<Shakes Head> such as shame... here's her sister 4443 on the KESR... if only.


Picture Source: https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8260/8713184011_ffbbd58d35_n.jpg

 

i think Bluebell have two and KESR also have two.

 

Interesting to see these photos of 4449. It must have been sickening when it got written off after all that work.

Is that 6601 behind it?

 

yes i think it must be and 5761 beyond that

 

Had a very nice PM from a member and just want to say how great it feels to not be bottling it all up anymore and to be getting support when for years I thought people would be pretty negative about it all...oh and hears a Nurse pic for that person...

 

I remember back in the late 80s or early 90s a member of the MHR C&W team popping down the Bluebell one afternoon and he was really enthusiastic about the Maunsell coaches there. I seem to remember he was a part owner? Anyway we got chatting for so long he missed the last train and we ended going up the pub for a beer! Think his name was Richard if that rings a bell with anyone?

 

after my time, I was gone by about 1983/4

 

Hard to tell which one,but that looks like another Maunsell or Ironclad in front of 4449 too. And people say the Mid Hants was formed too late to get hold of any vintage coaches!

I believe 4366 at Swanage, which they plan to restore, is missing a corridor connection. So I doubt they'll be too keen to give the one from 2850 up.

 

They have the two off 4449

The order as I recall in the headshunt was Swanage 34105 Sales coach (Ironclad) 4449, 5761 (because we tested our corridor connections and buckeyes on it) 6601 and 2850. Looks like 5761 had either departed or not yet arrived at the time of that photo

 

My point was really that there were other priorities for the company's money in the days when they were plentiful and in runnable condition without a huge rebuild. The Mk1s and 2s were cheaper and easier to get into service, and this was a railway struggling for survival at the time. I cringe at all the lost opportunities, but vintage carriages don't seem to have been very interesting to those who controlled the railway back then. Those people left a while ago, but the legacy left behind has taken longer to shift. Recently the attitude to vintage carriages has been very different.

 

just to point out we acheived as much as we did without a single penny from the MHR (except for electricity to be fair) It was really a case of it being too easy to pay about £1500 to buy and transport an ex departmental coach, it was quite another thing to devote several years and lots of cash to restoring it.
The people in power at that time had their own agenda(s) and it's pretty much the case that once the likes of David Vidler departed we got very little help or encouragement from management.

 

Definitely a huge shame and loss. I can see the rationale for buying mk1s as many other railways did, but mk2s? Yuck!

 

Yes at one time if you wanted more coaches you just put in a tender for some MK1 coaches at scrap prices, and had them delivered and when in the mood repainted out of the blue and gray, so why bother with spending time and money on a old wooden coaches. And when the rust set into your MK1 you just got another one and scrapped the old one. These days are over as most coaches are air braked which could be over come, but they will be electric heated and air conditioned so unless you have got ETH fitted engines they aren't any good so these old coaches what have survived are needed and the MK1 coaches are more likely to be repaired.

 

Yes I'd understood that there was no support from the railway, no money to give, which was my point I suppose. It makes it all the harder really that all those carriages were there, and could still be so. The whole thing predates my involvement, but from what I hear, the multiplicity of agendas (some hidden) was a serious problem. Perhaps not so different from other fledgling lines though. At least we are still here, and now have an opportunity to put things right (sort of). It wont be many months now before we have a Bulleid brake running. Hopefully in about 3 years time there will be another one and an open as well.

 

Bluebell have got two, 4444 and 4441. 4441 has a more complete and sounder body but the underframe was deemed as being in poor condition and heavily stripped and 4444 was heavily modified by the MOD and suffered extensively from dry rot so the plan always was to combine the two. 4444 was given a new completely new roof when it arrived and had the dry rot stripped. It then was modified further and became the Sheffield Park buffet before the brick built monstrosity was built. Regretably though the stripping of the dry rot was not sucessful and it came back - and consumed the new roof as well. After the buffet building was plonked on the platform it was sheeted up and shoved down the Ardingly spur. Goodness knows what has happened inside in the last 25 years...

 

a surfeit of riches...