7027 Thornbury Castle

45407 and 44871 seem to wash their faces as does 62005 for it’s owners, West Coast don’t exactly strike me as a charity, so I’d guess that their steam fleet bring something in…
Modern traction wise 20205 and 227 bring in some cash as do 50007, and 49 for their respective owners.

 

The answer, it seems, is that properly funded group(s) have arisen for the GWS to consider.

 

We don't know to what extent (if at all) IR subsidises his locos for his own enjoyment.
62005 - possibly
WCR - probably (although their engineering services may contribute)

I'll modify my initial statement - I think unless you are a forensic accountant and can disseminate the various income streams to loco owning bodies then it's probably fairly safe to say that very few, if any wash their faces!

 

"The right people" are a rare breed, and require circumstances to be right. I was born after the end of steam, and am nearly 50. The world my children will fledge into is very different from that I fledged into 30-odd years ago; a number of circumstances have changed as @Matt37401 and @MuzTrem have eloquently explained. That affects the availability of both time and money, just as both are more urgently required.

Get the right combination of people and resources, and amazing things can be done - look at what the A1SLT have achieved, or the sustained success of the MNLPS. But their success also highlights how rare that combination is, and a look at the alternative projects shows how possible it is to come unstuck, and how difficult it is to sustain success over many years.

My interest in 7027 has always been unlikely to convert into effort or money - it is simply not an artefact that intrinsically interests me. If a rescue is successful, I shall admire what is achieved; if unsuccessful, I shall not criticise those who did not succeed in doing so. And if the 4709 project is successful, once I've eaten my hat I shall [redacted for propriety]

 

No, it needs more than that; enough people to provide all the labour and money.

 

Not to get the project started!

 

Where do you get this from? The GWS statement clearly says its all available.

 

Any fool can start a project. Some have. The question is whether enough people could be found to complete the 7027 project.

 

7027 has been started a few times now. The fact that it remains unfinished is less than ideal in most peoples opinions, but it does mean that it still exists. Starting and lingering on to live another day is surely better than some of the more final outcomes.

 

Thing is this, its certainly not an no hoper, as things stand right now, If didcot sell, it has every chance of one day being finished, If Didcot decide to keep her, then the future is very uncertain, it can go one of two ways, the remains get shunted out of sight somewhere, the boiler gets used on 4709, and your left with a boiler less chassis, with no hope or, the 4709 project stalls, the leadership look again at 7027, and decide its restorable, and could be done with in a shorter time span. It's entirely possible that there might be a change of thought with in the leadership of the GWS, that decides, that 7027 gets overhauled, and 4709 is put on the back burner, until enough money is raised for a correct type of boiler for it.

 

45407 & 44871 are owned by somebody who also happens to own/run a large steam locomotive engineering business... I'm sure this has its benefits!

WCR locos must bring something in as you say, but are once again owned by a wealthy individual who has also built up quite a large engineering resource at their depot....

 

As somebody has already said on here, most existing groups have already got more than enough on their plates with what they do already. Perhaps it is time for all the moaners and groaners to do something about it theirselves rather than expecting others to do it for them....?

 

One problem is uncertainty whether someone is already negotiating behind closed doors. If anyone is, a bare "watch this space" statement would be helpful.

The GWS people did agree to wait six months before proceeding: has that period ended?

 

If I were a conspiracy theorist I'd wonder about the motivation of the people who keep talking about uncertainty and so on and generally talking things down.

It doesn't matter whether or not there are already behind closed doors negotiations. The worst that can happen is that there are two groups, and one can reorganise and become a supporters group for the other. Whereas if everyone assumes there must be a secret group negotiating behind closed doors that they don't know about nothing happens.

That was September, so not yet, but soon.

 

That would only be an issue which non doers would concern themselves over.

 

It all depends on what you call no hope. Physically, as the aviation people regularly demonstrate, given money and workforce you can restore any locomotive you like from the smoke box number plate. But if there is no significant chance of the money and workforce being available in the predictable future, and as the volunteer workforce is getting smaller than rather than larger, well..

 

Possibly. But it also increases the chances of fragmentation of effort and funds, undermining the joint objectives of people and groups seeking the same broad outcome.


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Fragmentation is unlikely when it seems that nowt is happening!