76017 and 34105

Right, have edited this thread to remove rude / libel / slanderous posts.

Please keep to topic i.e. 76017 and 34105.

There is no need or merit in discussing the situation with the owner and the railway, and there is absolutly no need what so ever to start discussing what arrangements the owner may or may not have made with their family - that is a private family matter and not one for discussion, speculation or insults on this forum.

 

76017, a really nice compact engine, a pleasure to be on, especially when running tender first when you compare it to the likes of a s15, you get coal dust everywhere and when its cold and wet, it makes for a very cold wet day, but on the 4 you could stay dry and fairly warm 34105, well chalk and cheese, very hot, eats coal for fun, knackers its fireman through heat exhaustion and sheer hard work but very exciting when climbing medstead bank just sheer power!! not much fun tender first once it got the highsided tender
its going to be good to hopefully see these two and 31806 back working, and with the t9 now being examined at the flour mill, who knows, i for one would love to see a greyhound in steam once more [-o< in 1950s black with green mk1s ,i used to love being next to the first window when she was pounding up the bank from alton,

 

As Gaz states, completely unecessary

I have dealt with offenders as appropriate. Any issues please PM myself or one of the mod staff.

Ben

 

The bottom one was 1983. How's that for a memory?

 

Happy days! N, U, T9 and Std4 on-shed! Maybe, just maybe, one day...

 

Somebody else said that 76017 was a good economical engine, I think t was Barry Stratton?.

Anyone know how many of this class of Loco survived the cutters torch?.

Regards
Chris

 

I think it is four.

The two obvious being 76079 & 76017. Then you have 76077 at GWSR under restoration (?) , and 76084 also undergoing restoration. Website for 76084 : http://www.standard4.com/history_main_page.htm (i recall this loco being stored in someones garden for many years)

 

For what it's worth I think the day's of the Mid Hants' internicine strife are long, long since over but it's the kind of legacy that lingers for decades as we have seen. Communication and openness are the great fixers and we should acknowledge the efforts of webmasters on several lines whose superb sites have helped overcome the secretive cliques that once ran some lines. In the case of the Mid Hants Tony Wood's informative and light hearted site helped to reinvigorate the line's sense of purpose and focus on its engineering skills. Secondly of course forums such as this play a tremendous role in allowing speculation from interested parties to be conducted publicly but safely without the constant suspicion of factionalisation beneath the surface.
With these new "safeguards" now in place I also agree that it may be time to extend an olive branch to JB . I was around the MHR loco dept in the eighties and it does me a power of good to see what the railway has achieved since then.
While I'm in an upbeat mood I'd also like to say that although I have not met JB for many years I always found him in the past to be a very friendly chap with time and a word for everyone. Being both fleet owner and loco superintendent is one of those situations that in retrospect we can see was not a good idea but it takes a wiser man than any of use were back then to see this and you can only deal with the situation in front of you. Nobody else had the vigour or the motivation at the time to perform the role as JB did so it is important to remain objective about consequences. Both railways and individuals have grown, and while maybe the same could not be said for some of the others who were around at the time history has fortunately airbrushed them away and we can now accentuate the positive and move on.
For anyone wondering who I was, I wasn't a "domeyhead" back then - in fact my hair was longer than Steve Humby's is today
regards
Andy

 

I have not seen a more honest and open statement like this for a very long time.The two key words here are communication and openness, this is the way forward.

Well done Andy

Best wishes
Chris Willis

 

i agree with what andy said, time does heal old wounds, its good to think that these engines will be repaired a thing that only a few years ago would have been un thinkable, colin chambers has worked hard behind the scenes to heal old rifts, and the mid hants has just got on and did what it does best, turns out engines that are amongst the best anywhere and keep the railway up the top of the list of the best railways in the country , i always used to be happiest when i got 76017 when i was on the footplate mostly because swanage used to knacker me totally by the last trip yet bodmin was a breeze it just shows you no two engines are the same the usa(s160) was a pig at times, she steamed ok but was one of the worse riding locos going, imagine riding on 20 p peices thats how it felt, but the roar from the blast pipe going under hampshire hunt, was something to be experienced, just ask rsf, he knows what i mean,
who remembers 30506 pulling 70000 and its main line special train up from ropley to alton, i am still convinced that she did all the work i still think that she would have done well on the main line , we all stood in the yard and could still hear it when the driver shut off for medstead