SVR Loco Newsy News / discussions

The tender from 34027 remains in the paint shop having been cleaned, prepared and received new coats of paint, lining and lion and dartboard. Varnish is being applied to complete the job. The loco chassis is having the overhauled brake rigging refitted, along with the refurbished air pump fitted between the frames.

1501 remains on the lifting jacks as the mechanical overhaul nears completion and parts reassembled on the chassis. The side tanks and cab roof remain on the wagon, which has been now moved inside the shed where preparation and painting into undercoat is taking place. The bunker is also inside for replacement of badly corroded sections prior to painting. The boiler is gradually approaching the re-tubing stage.

Having shared a lot of the traffic so far this season, 5164 has now been withdrawn for a long overdue bottom end and axle box overhaul. The wheelsets are to be removed using the wheeldrop, again proving the use of this facility for routine maintenance work.

The Fowler tender tank used with 42968 has now been replaced on the wheelsets, ready to be re-united with the loco in the near future.

The EMF team continue to remove fittings in preparation for the imminent lift of the cab and boiler off 7802. Cleaning of the frames and wheels is also ongoing in preparation of their move to Tyseley for overhaul.

D3586, the Bridgnorth shed and station pilot is being repainted by stealth. On the rare occasions it is switched off, external cladding sections are removed, cleaned, painted and re-fitted.

The Autumn steam gala appears to have been a huge success, with an estimated 6,500 visitors in attendance and the financial results are eagerly awaited from this three day event. Guest locos 60163, 6024, 92212, 4160 all performed well with the unsung hero from Scotland, 828, only being substituted by 4566 on its last working on the Sunday due to injector problems

http://www.svr-association.org.uk/bugler01.html

Patrick

 

All well and good saying a 28xx would be good but where is there one available for hire i understand the south devon is available but sale only.2807 may be needed back at toddington next year so that would be out to.
I guess that would only leave a 9f avaialble the midland railways centres.All talk of black 5 i dont think there any that would be available for a season long loan the choice is limited.
Maybe one of the more powerfull 060 may be a good idea.

 

In BR days Class 5s did every type of work that was asked of them, including slow freights, all over the country, without any problems. I think your comments are nonsense.

 

Take a look at "Trails of Steam" Vol 7 "Along the Welsh Border" shows black 5's and 73xxx's working heavy freight over the Central Wales line. Anyone who knows this line will know that this was work of the highest order.

 

3803 and 2807 could well be available

 

Not based on any engineering or fundamentals of mechanics, then?

 

92219 from MRC what a good idea.Could have a couple of missing items though.

 

Just going back to the "9F versus 28xx" debate for a moment, surely from a coal consumption point of view the 28 wins, simply because of the difference in the size of the grates?
I'm sure I have seen some crew comment posted commenting on the amount of coal the 9F uses, presumably just keeping the grate covered?

It looks as though the SVR will need a hire-in loco next year, but in the absence of one of their own, maybe someone is talking to Tyseley about a nice little Pannier? Much more economical!

 

Not speaking for CPSL or GWSR - but the intent is to run a similar timetable to this year next. Therefore unless 2807 is replaced at Winchcombe then 807 would unlikey to be available for a year long hire.

Also with my footplate experiance of 7903 and 2807 I would agree with 1472's comments - certainly in a tug of war between the two engines (going tender first) - I know which engine would win (which would be the same engine with more visibility along the line from the footplate).

Stephen
GWSR Fireman

 

I think Tyseley have been less than impressed by the way locos have returned after a period on loan to a heritage railway. I'm not saying that the SVR would do anything like that, but I'm sure Bob Meanley has mentioned either on these forums or in magazines that loco loans to preserved lines don't feature in their thinking.

Regards,

Dan

 

Heavily based on such things - and a very large dose of common sense.

 

But common sense (and fundamental mechanics) says that wheel size on its own is irrelevant. A loco with 5 foot diameter wheels is no better than a loco with 6 foot, or even 7 foot, at 25 mph. You have to take a lot more parameters into account. Conventional steam engines are essentially slow speed machines and, in many ways, the slower, the better. That is why locos that are required to go fast have larger wheels; to keep the rotational speed down. As I said earlier, if slow speed was a problem, locos would not be able to start their trains.
Locos that aren't required to go fast tend to have smaller wheels because it allows smaller cylinders and other components for the same T.E. and generally keeps construction costs down.

 

I made a mistake i did not realise that 92214 had sold to the north yorkshire moors was based a midland railway centre and would have been a great loco to have.
The other idea would be to go southern locomotive ltd for a hire in the the whole year Manston would be great again.

 

I think to be more accurate, the 9F belongs to an individual or individuals connected with the NYMR, rather than the NYMR as such.

I dont know about Manston as a hire-in for the SVR, a sauna bath for the crews in Summer, and another loco with a decent appetite for fuel.

We need to think "small and economical" really. Save the more exotic stuff for Gala time.

 

That's the Holy Grail at the moment though. The SVR have plenty of economic engines that aren't running - 2 Standard 4s, a Black 5, a Jinty, 2 Panniers, a 73xx, 2 Manors and a Hall. Trying to find something similar isn't going to be easy so it may have to be another big engine if a hire-in is necessary.

 

Unfortunately there is any number of large wheeled express engines and small wheeled goods engines to prove the point. A steam engine is designed to operate within certain optimum conditions, including speed and load. They can operate outside those limits, but will not be at their best when doing so. Black Fives, as mentioned, often worked goods within the speed range common on the SVR; they also worked expresses at over 80 mph, but in truth wre unhappy at either end of the spectrum. At low and high speeds they were very much out of their comfort zone, but did - successfully - perform useful work there.

Three very similar SVR engines worked southbound over the Central Wales line: Stanier Crab 2968 (5'6" wheels); Black Five 5110 (6'0" wheels) and 8F 8773 (nominally 4'8.5" wheels, but more like 4'7" due tp tyre wear and turning. All have very similar (but not identical) boilers, all have very similar cylinders and valve gears, and all are similar weights (the Black 'un's tube area is the largest, followed by the 8F's, then the Crab's). Reproduced from an article I prepared for the Stanier Mogul Fund and also used by the 8F Society are the logs from Knighton to Llangynllo (2968 had to turn back at Llandrindod Wells due to flooded track ahead). The driver of 8773 isn't known to me, but Ray Churchill was in charge of the Crab and Black 'un. He tells us that the boiler pressure on 5110 was well maintained with the water level well up.



The point is that the Black 'un with a slightly lighter load could not compete with the smaller wheeled Crab, whose speed was almost double the Five's at one point. But the real point is that the 8F, with three extra coaches and over a hundred tons more than the mixed traffic engines, fairly romped up the 1:60 gradient. The only major difference between the three types was driving wheel diameter, and the engines' performances are, in all cases, inversely proportional the driving wheel diameter.

 

This the point that needs making either are there a large number available for hire as the preservation sector has grown there is great call on a limited number of locos.
People have called for small and economical but you need to find that with the ability to pull 8 coaches easily there is the point there is nothing that ticks all the boxes so either you run shorter trains have a overly large loco in or the last option run more deisels as they all will manage the larger trains.

 

All this talk about hiring in whatever locos people want. One thing has to be remembered through all of this. Cost to the railway.
Any loco hired in especially over the summer period on the SVR needs to be capable of hauling 8 coaches and sometimes 10 depending on demand. ie coach parties. I can think of at least 4 weeks of this years season where at least 1 train all week was 10 coaches to cater for large parties.

There are just enough locos to cater for the level of traffic. 2857, 43106, 5164, 4566 (limited to 200t), 42968*, 46443*( limited to 200t), 7812.
*42968 ticket finishes next year.
*46443 ticket finishes 31/12/2011, but targeted for a quick turn around for use on the IFE's

1501 is coming along nicely as well as 34027 so theres 2 replacements. 7802 is progressing.

The 9F was a wonderful loco. Would love to see her back soon. But the coal consumption went up by 3tons per week while she was working.

Hiring in a loco depends on wether the company can actually afford it. It would be nice to see something big again but theres the coal and water consumption to consider along with the cost of low loader movements and actual hire costs. Suddenly the price goes up and up.

 

Going back on thread...

2857 has a leaking regulator lubrication pipe (or something similar), so was brought back to BH for repairs (http://forum.svra.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=2257)

Patrick

 

Ah, but you forget: this forum, like many others, spends much time finding solutions to problems, having gone to much trouble to manufacture the problems in the first place.