Bluebell Railway General Discussion

A proper engine to run on your railway then.

Dash for Copper Caped tin hat.

Happy and steamy new year.

 

No, it's more that once in a while we have to be reminded how blessed we are to have a large fleet of engines from Ashford, by having to suffer something else

Being serious, I arrived at 9017 more by a process of elimination:

For a small or medium loco starting its overhaul in mid-2016, it can't be B473, 592, 263, 65 (medium) or 323, 178 or 3 (small) as they will all be running. That leaves the Dukedog, Adams Radial and North London Tank (medium) and Stepney, Fenchurch and 27 (small).

Taking them in turn, the Adams Radial is known to be a very expensive job, even with the "known knowns", so runs the risk in the workshop of requiring substantially more money or time than anticipated. I'm not sure of the condition of the NLR tank, but the Dukedog had a very major rebuild last time so should be - at least as much as you can ever say such things - a reasonably known quantity in overhaul terms. Ditto the small locos: 27 needs a complete rebuild (and is being progressed by a volunteer group external to the main workshop programme); Stepney also needs a fundamental rebuild, whereas Fenchurch had a major overhaul about twenty years ago so should be in good condition.

To me, that makes the two most likely candidates 9017 or 672, and of those, 9017 is probably more immediately useful in the 2017-18 timeframe (while we will still have two P tanks in service), leaving 672 to be done perhaps around 2019-2020 ish, in time for when 178 comes out of service and well in time for the 2022 anniversary.

Tom

 

Lewis Nodes stated 2 or 3 years ago in Bluebell News that the most likely small/medium loco to be overhauled after the O1 was the Dukedog.

 

It does state April for 80151, I rushed to post before losing mobile signal although there is one in the cutting.

 

Without wishing to pre-judge anything, and without having read BN yet, I would assume the work required for both 80151 and 65 ought not to be too enormous given both were, as I recall, essentially rebuilt last time around?

 

You'd hope so, though both locos did a considerable mileage last time round. 80151, amongst other things, needs new tyres, which have now arrived and are at the South Devon Railway awaiting the dispatch of the wheels from the Bluebell.

Tom

 

Have the B4 and USA been ruled out for the foreseeable future?

 

I always think of the USA tank as a big loco - it's a class 3 As I recall, when it failed, it was the main steam pipe that broke, so probably a fairly expensive rebuild would be in order.

With regard the B4 - mea culpa, I forgot it when thinking about small locos. However, as I recall, she is limited to 15mph so can't run to the normal timetable, which inevitably limits usage. (Even the weekend shed pilot duty involves a trip to HK and back at normal line speed, so despite the prodigious haulage, Normandy couldn't be used on that duty unless the timetable is recast).

So I suspect the answer is not ruled out, but there are other locos further up the queue that have greater traffic potential, notably the Dukedog in the "medium" link and Fenchurch in the "small" link. With so many locos, inevitably no more than about half of them will be either in traffic, or under overhaul even in good times.

Tom

 

hi tom,
many thanks for the above resume.
is there any truth in the rumour please that Stepney is undergoing a repaint in the paint shop at Horsted Keynes at the moment?
cheers,
julian

 

Not a rumour - she is indeed being repainted - it was announced in the previous edition of BN.

Tom

 

Thanks Tom. How are the Atlantic, 'Primrose', and 84030 factored into the calculations? Is the policy essentially that they're ready when they're ready?

 

Presumably the best plan for 96 would be to essentially alternate it where possible with Baxter so there's always a tiddler around to do...whatever the hell it is they actually do.

Besides, there were reports of B4s clocking 60mph in their BR careers I believe, so she's clearly a thoroughbred at heart!

 

Essentially yes. All three are to a large extent dependent for progress on the rate they can raise funds, rather than being Plc-funded. So I don't think at the moment the programme is being based around their presence. Probably when any of them get to within a couple of years of completion, they would start to factor a bit more in plans and how they fit within the overall requirement for large, medium and small locos.

Tom

 

Great to see Deltics 9 & 19 will be visiting for another Diesel Gala this time on the 18th & 19th April!

 

I have just caught up on this thread, wot!!?????, deltics at the Bluebell, never saw that one coming. Saw my first Deltic at Kings Cross, years after I started as a carpark attendant at SP in 1967 never imagined the possibility!

Have already arranged that weekend off!!

 

Am I right that the Bluebell was preserved before the first production Deltic entered service?

"Creating history!"

Brings to mind my question to the Goathland Station Master as a Voyager departed his Station on a passenger service - "did you ever imagine a sight like that back in the 1970s"?

Which in turns begs the question - when will the Bluebell see its first HST?

Steven

 

This will be a good event looks like its now a regular event the bluebell diesel gala

 

Maybe when we get to Uckfield

 

http://thedps.co.uk/ see new on top front page

 

Not normally a Diesel fan but might actually go that event (though I see nothing on the Bluebell website as yet).