First Class 58 saved for preservation :).

Well done chaps


JIM

 

Now we have a class 58 preserved. It can’t be to longer before a class 60 comes up for preservation.

 

Sounds like a good idea to me, but i do wonder who will be first to preserve a rake of MGR wagons to run with the 58?

 

I must admit the Mainline idea is not the a bad one, they are good for about 80 odd so no worse for pathing than a 37, reasonable supply of spares with other examples being scrapped or in store, and something different from the samey DBS 67 or WCRC 47, and as a sole class runner, it is likely to be more in demand than a class with many runners and therefore more likely to justify the expense involved with Mainline running, and as mentioned earlier, it could be used for spot hire work when not on charter duty, remember they are just as capable of heavy freight work as a 66.

Admittedly some lines have Dual & Air rakes now, but they are still a number that are Vac only, and where do you get more Dual/Air brake stock from now ?, All the good Mk1's have already been snapped up long ago, ditto early Mk2's and later Mk2's and Mk3's are still very much in demand on the National Network so im unsure as to where this stock will come from, that and apart from Diesel gala's, will lines be bothered with the extra hassle of getting a translator loco out so a 58 can have a play ?.

 

As there are steam engines (and no doubt a higher % of total preserved engines). Difference is the average steam enthusiast is past retirement age whilst diesels bring it much young blood to preservation and many then go on to take a wider interest in their respective railways including steam.

 

Please don't get into this petty steam versus diesel bitchiness, it's petty and those involved should know better. This is excellent news for ALL preservation and a very useful loco has been preserved and i'm sure it will see plenty of use, preferably on the mainline. I am mainly a steam enthusiast (and i'm well below retirement age Hunslet, 58's were built just after I was was born) but it is very important one or two of these are preserved and kept in running order. They represent the last designs of the British railway loco manufaturing and are as much a part of our heritage as any steam locomotive.

 

I am a steam enthusiast to and well below retirement age but please read my post - I said the average steam enthusiast is past retirement age as demonstrated by any kettle-ex, visit to the lineside or gala. 58s were never popular engines amongst diesel enthusiasts so I am sure there won't be many preserved.

Also there plenty of other British loco classes built after the 58 - 60s, 89s, 90s, 91s, 92s for a start...

 

Not so sure as they were restricted to a few locations and performed their humble tasks with little razamatazz that accompanied the workings of such famed classes as Peaks, Deltics, Westerns, Warships, Hymeks, Hoovers et al. I feel sure that the market couldn't stand more than a couple of locos to enter preservation but I suspect the support base is greater than some younger enthusiasts would credit. My belated congrats to the Class 58 Group for their success - but based on experiences with preserving Hymeks I would simply add that the real work starts here !

 

So when a class 66 is preserved I have to worry

 

So disappointed. Thought this was a thread about a German 2-10-0 coming to this country.
In all seriousness though, I saw many of this class being built at Doncaster and here we are discussing one being preserved. How time flies.

 

Well done guys and good luck

 

I understand 58045 has been purchased and already transported to Barrow Hill to join 58016, however it's for parts stripping only and will be sold off for scrap once usable parts have been retrieved.

 

This doesn't hold true at all. Those of us who were around in the 70s and 80s will remember how Class 47s were universally despised, especially if they turned up on a Western or Deltic turn - and now look at the zillions preserved.

Once things start to really disappear off the national network, people start to get all dewy-eyed for the 'real railway' of their spotting youth...

Hard as it might be to believe now, you just watch... when the Class 66s come up for replacement, 'da spotterz kidz of today' will have grown up, have a bit of disposable income and be only too keen to see a bunch of them preserved.

Nothing wrong with that, I'm just making the point that a class's popularity when they're seen as common-as-muck on the big railway bears absolutely no relation to the desire to preserve one once the gas axes are being warmed up.

 

If your needing a new shed door..
The Cl 58 group are selling the maintenace access doors off 58045 (or any other souvenir part) if anyones interested, I'm sure they would love to hear from you before it goes to the scrap man.

 

I still can not see many being preserved. Look at the far more popular 56s and how many of those have been preserved. 58s aren't as practical as older diesels and will not be welcommed on many steam liness as they don't fit in.

Also I can assure you 47s weren't universally despised during the 1970s or 80s. There were many bashers out doing the class in the 80s (myself included) and a lot are now involved in preservation through the BT4F and 47401 project.

Shame for those that followed Westerns and in particular Deltics that there preferred power was so unreliable and couldn't cover their own diagrams.

 

Yadda yadda yadda, whatevaaah... :violin:

 

I thought that the National Railway Museum had already earmarked the last 58 built as it was to the best of my knowledge the last diesel at least built by British Rail for British Rail at Doncaster.

 

Yes 58050 is on the register of historic railway artifacts to be retained when it's owner is finished with it.

 

Correction to status of 58050; the locomotive has been placed on the register of historical artefacts by the Railway Heritage Trust but that does NOT mean it has been requested by the NRM. It means that the NRM will have first choice of taking possession of it once withdrawn from service but if the NRM rejects it then the RHT will seek to place it somewhere within the Heritage movement rather than see it be scrapped.

 

Yaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnn.