Oswestry Update

Some Cambrian and Furness locos seem to have been near identical. I can't imagine many smaller railway companies would have had the wherewithal (or need) to possess full-on teams of highly qualified D.O. staff, when established suppliers were more than capable of fulfilling any design brief.

 

The common builder between the Cambrian and Furness is Sharp Stewart. There are some really elegant locos which were almost identical. As you say why start from scratch when there was a suitable design off the shelf.

 

I think that sharing of designs was more common in the middle nineteenth century when railways frequently contracted to private builders. I've got in from of me a a picture of a Beyer-Peacock 2-4-0 built for the East Lancs Railway which, with the exception of some details of the boiler, was almost pure LSWR Beattie design (outside cylinders, hanging front axle boxes and all).

Tom

 

Duplicate post.

 

IIRC, the Cambrian relied a lot on 'bought in' locos. Even the design of their works at Oswestry was based on the Sharp-Stewart factory. Also the major railways ( GWR, GNR,L&NWR,L&SWR etc...) seemed to be barred by their Acts of Parliament from selling directly to their 'competition'. The Cambrian had bought off the second hand market frequently, indeed many of the small 0-6-0 tanks were GWR rejects/cast offs supplied via the Bute Supply Company: Cambrian 10 was an ex GWR 2-4-0 (1328), and Cambrian 95 was an ex GWR 4-4-0 (3521), as well as several ex Metropolitan Railway 4-4-0 tanks.

 

Indeed the frugality has been passed down through the years and the current CHR makes a pound go a very long way! It must be something in the water in Oswestry.

 

There's a lovely video of Telemon in the snow on the Facebook page.

@ilvaporista - are there any plans to get a cab ride video of the entire run to Weston? Railway videos have really helped keep me sane during lockdown!

A wider question - do people think that videos (such as cab rides) posted online have any impact on visitor numbers, i.e. does it make people more or less likely to visit if they've seen everything on video?

 

Indeed the Facebook video is lovely. I don’t generally link to Facebook, I just steal the pictures for here and the blog!!

Eventually there will be a video of the run but there is still a lot to do before it is presentable. Colin is itching to go already!

I for one watch a lot of cab ride videos but I don’t think it makes me want to visit more or less. I tend to put them on and fall asleep so I have to watch them over and over to get a full line journey.
A particular favourite is the WHR through the tunnels and the pass as I have a framed picture of my wife whilst pregnant with our first son sat on the old concrete mortar base. Now home to locos that I saw working in South Africa, life is full of strange connections.

 

I find it interesting that the Cambrian used 4-4-0s despite hilly and twisty routes. I suppose in those days few railways had thought of 2-6-0s.

 

Don’t forget to sign up for the monthly newsletter, the link is on the CHR homepage. The latest edition has just been published. Updates to the blog will start again as soon as we can get back to work.

 

They had obviously thought about it...

 

Anyone know more about that proposal?

 

This is in 'The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part three: Absorbed Engines, 1854-1921'. Kenilworth: RCTS. ISBN 0-901115-33-9. (Or was it The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part ten: Absorbed Engines, 1922–1947. RCTS. ISBN 0-901115-20-7.)

 

The blog has been updated with a few pictures of work going on around the sites. I am pleased to say that many of the regular volunteers (of a certain age...) are now in the process of having their vaccinations and are looking forward to returning to work. The vegetation clearing team are revving up their strimmers, eager to get stuck in.
Once again thank you for your support and we hope to soon be able to share news and pictures of our progress. We are sorry about the lull in work but we are still actively planning behind the scenes and once the signal is given to start work we'll be off. Well after a few cups of tea and a catch up in the messroom!

http://ilvaporista.blogspot.com

 

Look what has just arrived at Oswestry.

Thanks to CHR Facebook for the picture

 

Hired or has someone bought it?
Very Very useful either way.

 

Purchased.

From CHR Facebook page.

Today’s delivery - Cambrian Heritage Railways is pleased to announce the latest arrival with us in the form of an O&K MH5 Road Rail Vehicle (RRV) sourced and purchased from A P Webb of Stafford.

This machine will enable the range and speed of tasks undertaken by our volunteer permanent way department to be increased.

Pete McCracken CHR Trustee said, "this RRV is a huge step forwards in our capability and will allow mechanical assistance to area that previously were limited to manual work".

If you would like to assist CHR to continue our restoration work please visit www.cambrianrailways.com

 

We have begun to clear the way towards Gobowen. Here is a before and after shot. Updates on the blog.
Before

After

 

Time flies. I had not realised how long it has been since the last update. Like many organisations we have had to curtail working parties due to the restrictions and volunteer availability. However Thursday saw the team back on the upgrading between the current end of the running line and Weston.
I have added pictures of the work to the blog.
http://ilvaporista.blogspot.com/
Here is the start of the work.

I hope we are now back to regular updates and I can share the progress, although I am about to move house and workshop, which may cause the odd delay as we sort things out.

 

Having recently had reason to look up details of loco builder Nasmyth Wilson, who constructed mostly for export, I recalled that they built small numbers of locos for both the Furness and the Cambrian at the end of the 19th century. Not to the same design but quite possibly with some components in common.