4449 the story

a few more photos

 

This is our donation system...we realised a lot of people viewed the headshunt fromThe Bighton Rd Bridge so we added this pipe and bucket...kids loved it and most of the coins even went in! A lovely noise to be hearing a we worked below...the as we called it The Tintinnabulation of Cash

 

Nice and nostalgic shots, in a couple of those you can just see the Pullman 'Bertha' that subsequently left for the Bluebell then Swanage... and who's Red Triumph Dolomite is that its in lots of you pictures?

 

my friend and best Man Phil...it was really just an old car then, but he still has it. (The Volvo is my co owner Malcolm's and Th Lada my friend John's. Mine was the Imp in the early shots and the Avenger in the later ones....it's like a Classic Car show! )

 

How bad was the damage sustained by 4449 in the runaway? Do any pictures of it exist? I cannot imagine looking at the Mets on Bluebell if they were seriously damaged after spending all those years on them.. Must have been devastating

 

the lavatory end was stoved in, the ceiling roof and floor were all damaged, and through the holes in the floor you could see the underframe was now Z shaped. Nowadays , maybe it could have been repaired but we had not the means or the will to do it. I don't think it could have been done without taking off the body and replacing a substantial length of underframe. That it was a write-off is best demonstrated by the Swanage lads breaking it there instead of taking it home. They were much more advanced than us on C&W matters. There were photos. I imagine I've binned my copies...

 

Ouch. Its amazing how far preservation has come now as removing and swapping underframes on wooden bodied stock isn't that technically difficult. The Birdcage at the Bluebell and the Maunsell Brakke 3687 both had body and underframes seperated so the steelwork could be gritblasted. Done in a couple of days and sprayed with primer as well.

 

Just hard work I imgine...we did replace a lot of the toprails and the method we devised was to jack the roof up to get the new timber in, expertly cut with all the tenons etc by my pal Malcolm (I only scraped rust off and painted bits)

 

Am I correct nobody got hurt which could have happened if somebody was working inside/outside at the time.

 

by pure luck noone was injured, the Mk1 is said to have come through the station "like an electric train". fast and silent I imagine...lord knows what speed it reached on that gradint.

 

To misquote Robert Duvall, I love the smell of Nitromors in the morning, it smells like restoration.

 

you've been there! hurts don't it!

 

Yep, sure does.

 

I wasn't there, so this can just be put as hearsay if you chose, but I know someone who was at Alresford at the time, the runaway coach was said to be doing about 45mph is his estimation and the bang was terrifying.

 

it must have been doing that at least I'd say just as well the platform line was clear!

 

Its almost three miles about 2 miles of which is 1:80. I'd say 45mph is a good estimate, but I have heard others putting it nearer a mile a minute. As I said before, the bang is still being heard today in terms of the awareness of the challenges of running a railway with gradients everywhere. (The only completely level bits of the railway are the platforms at Alton and Alresford and the Whitedown Lane/Butts Road bridges in Alton. The railway was unbelievably lucky.

 

At least we can enjoy the others that live on elsewhere. Here's sister 4443 leaving the C&W Worksop at Tenterden last year. It had the body lifted off the underframe, which was then needle gunned & painted (thanks Martin!). Framework repairs, a completely new floor, canvas & all new cladding & bogie overhaul too. It's used on the Wealden Pullman normally, but does 'come out' in normal service at Gala's etc. When Pullman Car Aries is completed, 4443 can be released to join sister 4432 & CK5618 and will make a rather nice (but low capacity & nearly all 1st Class) set. I live in hope that the 'other' lowlight CK5153 will one day get restored to make a 4 car set....... Photo Elliot Waters

 

that's beautiful, much better than 4449 would have been. I'm going to have to pay a visit! Can I copy that picture? I'd love to show people what 4449 should have looked like by now!

 

we actually met with your then C&W people when starting out on 4449 and got a lot of tips as they showed us around your non-descript brakes and other coaches.

 

Don't talk your self down as you were all most likely still learning the hard way and if you were still involved would have a lot more experience now and when re-shopped it would have been done to a higher standard and most likely other coaches would been done as well.