Severn Valley and 45110.

A friends group is something I'd certainly support but I think it's hard to organise it from outside of the SVR. Should some SVR volunteers call a meeting or set something up then I'd support it.

 

Without getting at either 46118 or Neil if everybody takes that line nothing will happen!
How many locos would have been actually purchased from BR or Woodhams if everybody waited for somebody else to start a rescue or supporters group?

 

Unfortunately this is not the first time Heritage Railway has presented speculation and rumour as fact, when some simple research soon reveals it as nonsense. I have subscribed to this magazine since issue one and they do have some very good features occasionally, unfortunately it is punctuated with Daily Mail type attention seeking headlines, which even a few seconds of reading reveals is complete rubbish. I have come close to cancelling my subscription a number of times over this, but somehow keep going with it; I think you learn to block out the rubbish and enjoy the rest! Its a shame as it does spoil what is a good read most of the time.

 

1472: The subject of a "friends of 45110" group has been raised on the SVR forum, but there appeared to be little enthusiasm, in fact it appears to be getting more discussion time here. That could be just down to the greater activity on Nat Pres compared to the SVR forum.

However I'm not an "outsider", I am a long standing SVR member, but not currently an active volunteer. I'm pretty sure Neil is also an SVR member.
I dont think there would be any necessity to be a volunteer to participate in a support group unless you became involved in railway activities which necessitated having been through the volunteer induction and safety routines.

I'll give this some thought as to how this question might be approached with the SVR.

46118

 

My feeling is that for a group to be established it needs to have very solid roots within the SVR. 45110 is not a Barry engine, it's been part of the SVR for a very long time. If a support group is established it needs to be credible, and to be credible it needs to have people from within the SVR at the heart of it. The people I see involved with 4930 are also Drivers and Fireman. I think for 'outsiders' to come and start a group supporting 45110 may detract from the very people whose support is needed to help get it established. If there is interest from within the railway to help with 45110 then it needs to make itself known and then steps could be taken to form some kind of body to support the locomotive.

I am a SVR member but I consider myself to be very much on the outside of the railway - a lot of my spare time is taken up by committements on the Welsh narrow gauge scene rather than volunteer on the SVR.

 

I think the reason that there is no friends group could be the lack of people wishing to put there hands in there pockets to see this particular loco restored I do get the impression that the vast majority of members prefer there locos green.

 

Does anyone happen to know what state 45110 is in? If I recall correctly, her last overhaul was pretty thorough and took a very long time.

 

I would be very surprised if any where near the £500k being quoted by Heritage Railway would be needed, I've no idea where this figure has come from tbh. As mentioned previously, a substantial amount of work was done on it last overhaul and, unlike 43106 (which had a similar sum spent on it), it has been stored under cover. It did run a significant number of miles last term, but so did 7802 & 42968 which are considered more than viable for overhaul by their owning groups.

 

A lot would depend on what was done at the last overhaul, would it not? If the boiler was OK at that time but the bottom half needed a lot of work, after 10 years the bottom half could be OK but the boiler could have reached the point where it needed a lot spending on it. 500K is the typical overhaul cost nowadays for a loco that hasn't had new firebox half sides, firebox tubeplate since BR days.

I remember a Black 5 owner telling me when he bought the engine that he'd had the firebox inspected and it should be good for another 40 years. That was in the mid 70s and it has run fairly constantly since then with relatively short periods out of traffic for overhaul - he is probably starting to wonder what the next overhaul will cost.

 

Look who's back https://twitter.com/SVREngsteam/status/384712533975654402