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MHR Restorations and Overhauls

Discussion in 'Steam Traction' started by LN850, May 21, 2010.

  1. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

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    I suspect they had too much power for the available adhesion.
     
  2. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    ..... and brakes! Tom's summary a couple of posts back makes perfect sense. They lasted pretty well though, though I'm still a bit surprised the braking issue was never addressed. I was lucky enough to see C1 in harness at the Bluebell during it's time in the south, where it seemed master of all which was asked of it. Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't mistake 'em for anything else this side of Legoland!
     
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  3. Wenlock

    Wenlock Well-Known Member Friend

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    I suspect that once the wartime emergency was over, the Southern would have been once again running less freight. In order to run freights at speeds to fit between an intensive passenger service either they need more of a fitted head than might be used elsewhere, or the train loads needed to be reduced accordingly. (or perhaps both)

    Given the above it is perhaps no surprise that Southern region was I believe the first part of BR to ban unbraked freights (1980 if my memory serves).
     
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  4. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    I think the key statement is in HAV Bulleid's quote: "So the increasing of the Q1 brake power soon got onto Durban's job list in the Drawing Office; but there were always more important jobs and no loud shouting from Traffic and so it never got done." (my emphasis).

    In other words, the deficiency wasn't so serious given the normal duties, such that for a hard-pressed drawing office other problems got priority.

    Tom
     
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  5. Bean-counter

    Bean-counter Part of the furniture

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    While unfortunately having 'a plan' appears to be all too often seen in this light, it is essential for efficient operation - as they say, 'fail to plan and you plan to fail'!

    Steven
     
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  6. 8126

    8126 Member

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    Or, an old one I seem to be hearing a lot lately: 'Plans are useless. Planning is essential.'

    I know full well that planning is important and I fully expect Ropley and many other locomotive departments have been doing just that for years. But equally, if all you ever say to the public is that the plan is to provide x number of locos in service at any one time, with an average turnover of one overhaul every y years in support of the known service requirements, and that we're currently working on 98606, 98705, 98805 and 98479 (not entirely made up numbers), that's a perfectly reasonable and indeed measurable objective. Nobody can complain when the next to emerge from the works isn't the one they were told it was going to be five years ago...

    So yes, I do think the MHRs willingness to actually set out a more detailed public strategy is going above and beyond what is strictly necessary and therefore commendable. Who knows, it may also help with fundraising a bit...
     
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  7. Bean-counter

    Bean-counter Part of the furniture

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    Point understood! Yes, useful for fund raising and also openness and definitely commendable! BTW, I have never assumed that the lakc of a published plan doesn't mean the lack of an unpublished one too!

    One advantage of a published plan is that I think it does both focus the mind before publishing and discourage too many changes of plan afterwards - both of which can be good!

    Steven
     
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  8. Romsey

    Romsey Part of the furniture

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    It's really good to see the MHR being open about the proposed order of work. Plans always evolve, so any organisation needs a starting point to cope with the inevitable changes. Hopefully 98628, 98699 and perhaps 98750 will also fit into the queue at some point.

    Cheers, Neil
     
  9. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    So we can safely conclude that the Waller's Ash over-run wasn't serious!

    Joking aside, I'd imagine the work around was simply to set load limits the Q1 could stop without any undue dramas.

    It's always struck me as odd that the only place fitted freight stock was routine in these islands was the Irish 3ft gauge, the L&B and L&MVLR .... unless anyone knows of any others. Unfitted freights must have been the bane of many a traffic department!
     
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  10. 73129

    73129 Part of the furniture

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    Looking forward to seeing 30506 back in steam this year. I wonder if the Autumn gala will be based around 30506 returning to steam. With any luck maybe 30847 from the BB could be one of the visiting locos for the gala.
     
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  11. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

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    yes I think the railways left it too late to compete with road transport when it boomed. I also think Beeching was too late too, although pruning the branches had already begun before his time.
     
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  12. 21B

    21B Part of the furniture

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    The railways were in no position to compete. They suffered from two misfortunes. First they were common carriers and had to accept whatever was offered no matter how uneconomic for them. Second their rates were set by government. They were unable to cut their goods carriage rates to meet the competition from unregulated (largely) truck operators who ran on roads heavily subsidised by the public purse using war surplus (WW1) lorries that were in plentiful supply at peppercorn rates. When one takes into account the natural advantage of the lorry in that it can go door to door it was only the restriction in vehicle weight and speed that lasted well into the 1950s (60s?) that kept so much freight on the railways, that and the fact the railways had to carry even the loss making goods.
     
  13. 21B

    21B Part of the furniture

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    We are in a unique position (for us anyway) that makes publication of a plan desirable:
    1. We have for the first time a number of locomotives that will have to await space in the shed for their next overhaul despite being complete.
    2. We already have several overhauls (35005, 34105, 30850, 30506) and a restoration (75079) underway. We cant do everything all at once so we need to prioritise and drive to completion. Three of the overhauls are time-bound.
    3. We have recently acquired a well-beloved locomotive, and rightly the membership want to understand plans for it.

    When you've answered all the questions, you've provided the plan.

    The plan is of course caveated with "any plan remains under constant review and may change at any time". I think it was Patten who said that it wasnt the plan which was important, but the planning was essential.
     
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  14. 3855

    3855 Member

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    Do you mean the former governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten?
     
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  15. martin1656

    martin1656 Nat Pres stalwart Friend

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    Any plan is subject to change, i'm assuming that of those engines listed 30506 , will be outshopped later this year, and 35005 some time next year /2020, with 34105 most likily 2020-2021, thats still some 3 years, of course you have to remember at the same time engines will be coming out of traffic as they reach the end of their boiler certificates , i ideally it needs to be one out, one in, so you have sufficient engines to meet your traffic needs, and then you have to look at what engine needs what, for instance, if you have two engines, one needs less work and can be turned round in 12-18 months, vs one thats going to take 3 years, which do you do? my gut feeling is that if 850 hasnt been started, it may be prudent to look at what engine in the overhaul queue needs what, and then to move engines up the queue , and of course you have to separate what is all together already together mechanically, but in need of boiler work , to what is a full strip down and decide what do you do?
     
  16. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    ..... and Generalfeldmarschall Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke who said "No plan of operations extends with certaintly beyond first contact with the enemy's main force", adding "Strategy is a system of expedients". Only, he said it in German of course.

    The Chinese Zhou dynasty general and philosopher Sun Tzu made much the same points, only 2500 years earlier, proving he'd have been a useful chap to have around to manage an overhaul!

    Ein Punkt für "Zen und die kunst der Dampflok Wartung"! :)
     
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  17. green five

    green five Resident of Nat Pres

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  18. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    Bit of a stretch to say that 34058 is 'Under overhaul' isn't it?


    Keith
     
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  19. nine elms fan

    nine elms fan Part of the furniture

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    Not bad I suppose, but personally I prefer a more diverse show of locomotives like what the Bluebell has or the North Norfolk, a good cross section.
     
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  20. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Like 35030?
     

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