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Isle Of Man Steam Railway

Discussion in 'Narrow Gauge Railways' started by David Bigcheeseplant, Jun 11, 2016.

  1. Chrisw77

    Chrisw77 New Member

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    7 locos in steam for 2023 is an exciting propect, I’m really getting itchy feet to visit as been so long
     
  2. Chrisw77

    Chrisw77 New Member

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    I do hope 14 will return home when work is finished, looking forward to more updates as and when available
     
  3. Chrisw77

    Chrisw77 New Member

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    i liked Hutchinson in blue to be honest, wouldn’t object to it again, sorry, definitely in tradional form though
     
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  4. andrewshimmin

    andrewshimmin Well-Known Member

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    I quite liked it with the Mannin style cab, personally. But also lovely now.

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  5. andrewshimmin

    andrewshimmin Well-Known Member

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  6. Chrisw77

    Chrisw77 New Member

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    yeah, looks great now, i really wish they wouls restore the chimney numerals to all locos that don’t have them, i think its a lovely feature, would love to see GH Wood with chimney numerals
     
  7. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    ..... and no-one seems to be complaining about a very fetching blue livery on that one! :)

    p.s. Don't tell anyone, but by a process of elimination I've worked out one of those unknown locos must be a CDJRC Class 5. ...... there, that ought to get the rumour mill rolling! ;)
     
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  8. andrewshimmin

    andrewshimmin Well-Known Member

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    Well, Drumboe is nearly finished at Whitehead!

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  9. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    You'd be a brave man to put steam in her boiler...
     
  10. andrewshimmin

    andrewshimmin Well-Known Member

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    Yes indeed!

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  11. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    See? Told you! :)

    I'd dearly love to visit Whitehead, which I missed when working over there) and the lovely Downpatrick & County Down .... which I didn't.

    Though I completely understand why it's not neen a priority for Whitehead, I'd love to see some arrangement to bring sole-surviving SL&NCR steam loco, Lough Erne, back to life. It really is too small for mainline tours, but would surely be a good fit at Downpatrick.
     
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  12. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    Anything to do with with 60 years, mostly exposed to the Irish weather? At least it fared better than the poor old class 4 Baltic, which after languishing for a few years, left unofficially in the back of several lorries, without anyone noticing. I'd guess the boiler on Ulster Museum's 5A would be in better order, but that son't be leaving Cultra any time soon.
     
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  13. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    Whilst I agree that she has been neglected for far too long, Lough Erne would be too big for the DCDR.
     
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  14. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    If by 'too big' you mean 'a bit OTT for Downpatrick's usual 2-coach trains', sure, but when's that ever stopped anyone? Even if it only steams on 'high days and holidays' it's got to be better than sitting cold indefinitely.

    IIRC, the main reason it's not run in decades has been that the loco is way too small to handle the RPSI's 7 car mainline set and in any case, couldn't be expected to run at anything close to mainline speeds. Couple that with needing to keep at least one (preferably two) out of the NCC WT, three GNRI 4-4-0s and the D&SE 'mogul' serviceable, plus having the superheated 101 still considered a mainline option and they've got their hands pretty much permanently full. I keep hearing rumblings about a new build NCC W 'mogul' too, so I doubt poor old Lough Erne will feature high on anyone's 'to do' list at Whitehead any time soon.

    Physically the loco certainly isn't larger than the former native fleet which trod those metals .... and I doubt there's any realistic chance Cultra will ever let sole the surviving B&CD 4-4-2T out to play . IIRC, there was only one B&CD class barred from south of Ballymacarrett Jnc. No 'Baltic' ever made it past the one unsuccessful test run, which in any case ended abruptly a long way north of Downpatrick! Given the nature of the pw on the old SL&NCR, there ought to be no way the diminutive 0-6-4T would be too heavy.

    If there's ever a chance to see Lough Erne in steam again, it'll need to be for a practical reason and assuming we wouldn't want to send it to search for Lew, I can't think of anywhere else all that suitable this side of Victoria (i.e. SE Aus, not SW1).
     
  15. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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    I was thinking more of the economics. The 'Sugar Puffs' are probably just about right for the Downpatrick operation as it stands. As you will be aware, railway visitors in Ireland (N&S) are considerably smaller than GB, so there's no point in spending a fortune on rebuilding Lough Erne to find that it costs 10x more in coal/repairs/overhaul costs than you're actually taking through the farebox.
    Lough Erne has many rumoured issues, from a new cylinder block, partial new frames and a new firebox all being required.
    The locos in Cultra are all pretty much knackered and it is fairly well known that they were given a good coat of paint to cover very worn out locos. The exception to this might be No800, but it would be so restricted in its route availability that there would be little point in restoring it.

    They're not just rumblings of the W class - the frames are cut and partially assembled, the cylinder blocks and motion brackets are cast and machined, the boiler is well under way, the wheels are complete and many other castings have been produced.

    But all this is very off topic..... :)
     
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  16. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    I hear that. We'd best give the thread back, before anyome gets too cross.
     
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  17. marshall5

    marshall5 Well-Known Member

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    Meanwhile back on the Isle of Man Railway........ Today's 16.00 ex Port Erin was, again, strengthened to 7 carriages so the loco is blocking the foot crossing which bisects the platform as can be seem in the photo below. The second photo was taken during an interlude in shunting at Douglas yesterday and shows the recently restored Cleminson 6 wheeler N45 (ex MNR No6) and Small F F11 which is undergoing a body rebuild. Photos courtesy of Heritage Railway Volunteers https://www.facebook.com/hrviom/
    Ray.
    IMR no4 16.00 ex Port Erin 23 Sep 2021.jpg IMR F11 and Cleminson Douglas 22.9.21 hrv.jpg
     
  18. MuzTrem

    MuzTrem Member

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    A real tragedy, since she was the last Baltic tank in the British Isles

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  19. RLinkinS

    RLinkinS Member

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    There is a wonderful picture of her in the yard at Stranorlar in Patrick Whitehouse's book "On The Narrow Gauge"

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  20. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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