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Narrow gauge engines

Discussion in 'Narrow Gauge Railways' started by exiled gog, Jan 11, 2021.

  1. exiled gog

    exiled gog New Member

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    I have a question.
    How many UK narrow gauge engines that have previously worked on UK narrow gauge lines are now for want of a better word dormant i.e sitting on a scrap line, under a tarpaulin or on a plinth.
    I would suggest replies relate to UK built engines working on UK lines.

    Many thanks
     
  2. Llwyngwern

    Llwyngwern Member

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    Listings may follow and be debated but are you thinking of steam locos, internal combustion or electric? Monitoring Motorrails/Simplex et all would be a challenge in itself.
     
  3. marshall5

    marshall5 Well-Known Member

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    The remains of IMR No7 Tynwald of 1880 owned by the '3 foot gauge Society' are/were dumped in a field at Weeting Suffolk as seen below (not my photo).
    IMR no7 Fengate Farm Weeting 13th Feb 2016.jpg
    Ray.
     
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  4. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    Monarch would perhaps be the biggest. It hasn't run since the 1970s. I am not entirely sure of its status at the moment.

    Others - the Alco, Earl of Merioneth and Livingston Thompson at the Ffestiniog.

    Woolwich ex Bicton?

    Several of the Snowdon Mountain Railway locos seem unlikely to ever run again.
     
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  5. bantamd14

    bantamd14 New Member

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    Woolwich is being restored at Statfold
     
  6. meeee

    meeee Member

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    I think it is important to draw a distinction between locos stored awaiting overhaul or on display, and ones as the OP put it "sitting on the scrap line". They are not the same thing.

    Tim
     
  7. exiled gog

    exiled gog New Member

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    I should have been more specific. My question relates to narrow gauge steam locomotives. To help posters I ought to divide my question into two parts:-
    Scrap line locomotives.
    Locomotives that are in the process or will be (subject to funding) restored.
     
  8. andrewtoplis

    andrewtoplis Well-Known Member

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    Is there anything that could be called a 'scrap line' loco (presumably something that has been consciously abandoned or consigned for scrap)?

    Surely by 2021 everything will be restored even at some far off point (however slowly the money comes in)?
     
  9. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Poor old Moel Tryfan's bogie frame, bogie wheels (lately removed from 'The Ladies' as life expired) and it's remaining side tank? I doubt any of the remaining components could be considered useful in a 'heavy rebuild'. Anyhoo, there's Gowrie yet to get out of the starting blocks ... and that ought to be enough to keep 'em occupied for a few years.

    Although, these days, nominally 'scrapped' locos (and stock) have a marked, if occasional, tendency to stay about as dead as Batman's many adversaries - Wot? Of course I wasn't thinking of W31's trailing bogie ..... perish the thought! ;)
     
  10. Llwyngwern

    Llwyngwern Member

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    Thanks. That rules out one I had in mind. I thought I'd check before starting hares running.
     
  11. meeee

    meeee Member

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    Those components aren't on a "scrap line" either, they are on display in a museum. So although they are life expired, they have a secure future and different use. The same goes for the old frames of Welsh Pony.

    There are some locos that are stored pending overhaul, some that are unlikely to ever run again but have a secure future as museum items, and then some that don't appear to have any future.

    This last group is what I would consider to be on a scrap line. I can only think of a few, such as the remaining SAR locos at Exmoor, maybe the Peckett Mesozoic, or the remains of Tynwald. That's not to say their future is set in stone. Just that they don't currently appear to have a secure future.

    Tim
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2021
  12. bantamd14

    bantamd14 New Member

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    There is of course the abandoned de Whinton loco, high up in the quarry above Penmaenmawr!
     
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  13. exiled gog

    exiled gog New Member

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    I remember my late friend Jonathan having this madcap idea to persuade RAF Valley to use a helicopter to lift the de Whinton off the top of the quarry!!!
     
  14. Steve B

    Steve B Well-Known Member

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    Monarch has been cosmetically restored and is on display under cover at Welshpool station (W&LLR). I'm unaware of any plans to restore it to working order.

    Steve B
     
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  15. marshall5

    marshall5 Well-Known Member

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    There's a collection of derelict Motor Rails near Mold which appear to be abandoned.
    Ray.
     
  16. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Sounds like a jolly good excuse candidate for a forces 'heavy lifting exercise', if ever there was one! :rolleyes:
     
  17. bantamd14

    bantamd14 New Member

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    It maybe a rural myth, but I was told that the use of an army Chinook to recover the loco has been considered, but the downforce from the rotor blades could cause a landslide of the loose slate and come crashing down onto the A55 below!

    I viewed the loco in 2019 and thought it might be better to winch it UP one level to where there is road access for the quarry.
     
  18. SpudUk

    SpudUk Well-Known Member

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    Is it even in restorable condition?

    Mesozoic is the loco that immediately springs to mind, I don't think she'll ever be restored where she is and her condition is only getting worse
     
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  19. Bluenosejohn

    Bluenosejohn New Member

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  20. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    There's not much of it left to restore. it's pretty much a given that a new boiler would be required, that just leaves a set of frames as 'original' and it's probably a fair bet that they will not be in good shape either. It's also 3ft gauge which doesn't give it many places to operate, so unless it can be regauged (losing more of its originality in the process) then it really has to be asked - is there any point in recovery?
     
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