73129 in need of tyres.

From the WSR SSG2010 thread

Who do you make any donations to if you are able to help with this ?

 

Hi,

I'll quote the article which has appeared in the latest edition of Steam Railway which should make the situation clearer.

Unique surviving Caprotti valve gear Standard 5MT No. 73129 has been withdrawn from active service at the Midland Railway - Butterley following the discovery of as slipped tyre on October 25.

The cost of the repair will be some £20,000, which the MRB needs to raise urgently if the locomotive is to be in service for the 2010 season.

"We knew when it went into traffic at the time that the tyres were very thing, but we hoped that locomotive would last suffiently long to make it worth running for a while before it needed to be stopped," spokesman Eddie Draper told Steam Railway.
Engineer Ian Crampton has carried out regular close examinations of the locomotive. He said just two weeks before the actual failure that they had been expecting the locomotive to be withhdrawn "at any time".

The centre has already completed purchased a new set of tyres for the locomotive and tender, which are currently stored in the shed at Swanwick. But £20,000 (a non-finalised figure) is required for the them to be fitted, for which an appeal has been launched. Specialist contractors Ian Riley & Son and the South Devon Railway have both been quoted for the work once the required finance is in place.

It has been made clear to Steam Railway that the reason the locomotive hasn't made more visits to preserved railways away from its Butterley home is because of its worn tyres.

However, Mr Draper siad that if the MRB is successful in its appeal then such visits will be a possibility, with the locomotive available for other preserved railways to hire once it returns to traffic.
"We would hope Steam Railway readers would be suffiently interested in this otherwise sound locomotive, which is perfectly capable of working on other heritage lines, for them to feel able to give generously," he said.

It is hoped No. 73129 canbe lifted off its wheels in either December or January.

To donate to the appeal to get the Caprotti Five running again, make your cheque payable to

"MRT Ltd Standard 5' and send your donation c/o the Midland Railway Trust, Butterley Station, Ripley, DE5 3QZ

Thanks,

Paul

 

£20,000 to fit a set of tyres?

I'm in the wrong business, obviously.

Just consider what's required.

Removing old tyres - A few hours work, maximum.
cleaning up the wheel centres and measuring.
machine new tyres to size - probably a weeks work at the outside
warming up and shrinking on
Fastening (if by retaining ring or rivets)

Nice work if you can get it

 

yeah, pop along to Kwik Fit...

 

I take it you have all the necessary equipment to do this work, or can obtain it without costs which would then need to be passed on?

 

Haven't you missed out the actual procurement of them? Not much change from £12K there, I suspect.

 

It also goes on to say it is a "non-finalised" figure.

 

My mistake. Apologies. However, it is for both loco and tender so that is 16 tyres, about £1250/tyre

 

And of course the tyre heating and fitting equipment falls naturally and freely from the sky.

Work like this is not done by volunteers with a bunsen burner and sledgehammer on a Sunday afternnon, but in properly equipped engineering premises with all the compliance costs and overheads which that represents.

 

I'd say the figure is just about right, having been involved in 5199s retyring a couple of years back. As has been pointed out, this isn't something a volunteer can do on a sunday afternoon. AFAIK there is only Riley and South Devon who have the equipment set up to retyre wheelsets. It may sound simple, but steam locomotives are an expensive hobby as can be seen by the quoted cost above.

 

You'll be lucky!

 

I want to say "Prat". But personal insults are not permitted on this forum. But you get the message!

 

Come on guys stop squabling and remeber this is a worthy cause as this is a unique and important locomotive and we and it deserve's more of this:

 

For wheelsets up to 3'-6" dia, Baguley Engineering can re-tyre,re-profile and press wheels off/on axles, if necessary. Not much good for the main line guys but a lot of industrials will be in this range. And they are quite a bit cheaper than some firms I can mention!

 

So what size are the tender wheels?

 

And you think that bypasses the system?

Okay, so how do you justify such a fee?

BTW, I did several months in a wheelshop, and am quite familiar with the process. Which is more than you seem to be.

I've often wondered why loco overhauls have become so incredibly expensive. Reading the 6100 thread as well as this one, and hearing of people casually writing off five and six figure sums for little in return, it's easier to understand why.

 

Wow!

Someone has added a nought on somewhere - lol

TBH £125 a piece would be a good price, but double that and there would be reasonable profit, even allowing for transport.

 

It is about £1250 a tyre. Keep in mind the amount of work that will actually go into retyring 16 wheels (even small tender and pony wheels.)

The transport fee I believe is wound up in the sum as well, which again isn't cheep, although we are only transporting the wheels, not the whole engine which should save some of the cost.