46235 City of Birmingham

Re: the future of A2 Blue Peter ???

I bet you could take the name blue Peter off the loco and swap names with city of Birmingham, remove that n overhaul it to mainline, and 99% of the science museum visitors wouldent even notice. Anyway, it's all money and ain't going to happen,

 

Re: the future of A2 Blue Peter ???

Blimey - that must have been expensive! Especially as you'd have to lower the inside cylinder block too. Maybe they just lowered the back end

 

Re: the future of A2 Blue Peter ???

Narrow minded? Not at all just common sense and good preservation. There are two other examples of the class both of which have steamed on the mainline and are likely to do so again in the future.

 

Re: the future of A2 Blue Peter ???

I'd just like to voice my support for Tom and Sir Handel's point that 46235 is best where she is.

 

Re: the future of A2 Blue Peter ???

Agreed. Plus this has nothing to do with Blue Peter. I'm sure CoB is being discussed elsewhere.

 

Re: the future of A2 Blue Peter ???

You could probably swap the nameplates of 46233 with 46235 and even more people wouldn't know the difference.

 

Re: the future of A2 Blue Peter ???

Of all the locos in britain in my opinion CoB should be given to tyseley and restored to mainline us for the first locomotive to go onto hs2 metals and into brum!

 

We've been here before with 46235. Why does it have to run? What's a museum for? More people can see it in Thinktank than they can if it's in a shed somewhere being prepped for a run...

 

I'd agree, except it is now so hopelessly hemmed in by other exhibits against a wall that its diifficult to see it properly. In this respect the move from the old Birmingham science museum was a retrograde step. At least there was space around it at the old site, and it was moved (by electric motor) backwards and forwards on a daily basis so vistors could see the motion turning.
It would make more sense to have it as a centrepiece in the new HS2 station that will be built across the road. No doubt there will be all sorts of "reasons" why it can't be removed from its current position - a very sad lack of foresight when Thinktank was planned.

 

That's fair enough - some decent lighting wouldn't have gone amiss either! Bring back Newhall Street, that was a wonderful museum.

 

Yet a steam engine sat in a musuem has none of the appeal and excitement that people (including us railway enthusiasts and the general public) associate with them. I'm yet to ever go to a musuem that houses a steam engine and see people react the same way that they do when they go up to a one in steam at Bridgnorth, Tywyn, Porthmadog, Aviemore...

 

Isn't it also the case that it is physically split apart from its tender, for a walkway between them? I don't really have a problem with it never steaming again, given there's two and now both major variants in the class covered and able to steam in the future, but I do find it a bit disconcerting that the locomotive and tender were split in that way.

It's not a big gap but it is enough to spoil the illusion of the locomotive not being an "exhibit" so to speak but a locomotive at rest, which is what I always saw it as in its previous location.

I suppose it's good for getting the youngsters to see the footplate and the tender more easily though, so perhaps it's justifiable. The NRM seem to manage that without splitting the locos though.

 

It depends how it is displayed as to whether it gets excitement.
the WD 2-10-0 at Utrecht, probably the most "original" post 1945 British steam loco in existence*.. Has access to the cab with film and sound from the drivers windows..
going further in Japan a 2-8-2 has a fully working cab similar in the real footplate.. The gauges, regulator, brake, whistle all respond realistically to touch, including cab vibrations..especially so with wheel slip...
there was a massive queue for this exhibit.. and it's not in steam.

* whilst we discuss the originality of 46235's exBR state, its worth noting this 2-10-0 was built 1945, stored for a period, before ending up with NS. NS retired this loco in 1952, giving a working life of 7 years, less with storage...has this loco ever had a boiler lift...or even a retube ?

 

M'yes, but if/when 6229 is out again, I suspect that she would be a huge draw in her own right.

Mark

 

On that note why give money to see clun castle when we have EoME or Nunny might as well give money to 6880/county/47xx to see something different, or why all.the excitement about galatea, when we already have leander, and possibly if the lottery grant goes ahead bahamas. 29 is a completely different kettle of fish, so really there are only the two of "staniers engines" left (he hated the streamlining) I dont think anyone would say im not going to go and see that because its just like sutherland. Think tank has (imo) not done her justice, and if nothing else was to happen, I would whole heartedly support here moving to a space incorperated into the new hs2 station.

 

Re: the future of A2 Blue Peter ???

Ripped from wiki:

A sign displayed by her in the museum explains that she is too tall for the national network (and would foul OHLE), while this is strictly true, the cab and boiler mountings could be modified to be lowered to bring her back into gauge, as has happened to the other two preserved Duchesses (4)6229 Duchess of Hamilton and (4)6233 Duchess of Sutherland.

Not exactly new then...

Restoration attempts have been considered though, so why should they be thwarted on the basis of a fairly small modification? Like I said, steam locomotives were obviously built to sit in museums, which explains why a certain Star will never steam again.

If money is made available, and a group shows appropriate interest, why not attempt to restore her to mainline condition? (Running for cover now, but if Mr Riley decided tomorrow to ditch the 5's and restore CoB to mainline condition, would you still object?)

 

Re: the future of A2 Blue Peter ???

Yes. Why? Because not every engine should be a plaything for our generation to use as we see fit, gradually replacing parts and losing originality. And with other Duchesses already available on the mianline, what do you gain by seeing this particular one run? if you want to see CoB on the mainline, ask the owners of one of the other Duchesses if you can swap nameplates for a day.

Or asked another way: in the RAF Museum there is an Avro Lancaster that flew more than 100 missions to Germany, survived the war and then was preserved almost immediately. Thus she is a genuine time capsule form that time, quite unlike, say, the BBMF Lancaster which has had a more or less continuous operational history for 60-odd years, including a lot of changes of components to keep her in airworthy condition. So presumably, given your view that Lode Star and CoB should be taken out of their museums so that our generation can enjoy them in steam, with whatever modifications and changes would be necessary for that to happen (and you admit modifications would have to be made), you'd be equally happy to see the Hendon Lancaster returned to flying condition, destroying forever whatever patina of originality it currently has?

Tom