LSWR T3 563

It's tricky, so many people don't know what a steam engine. To get them through the door, you need a thing like wonderlab.

Ironically, we did the Flying Scotsman VR experience. Overall, I thought it terrible (in one place, you can see the bogie just hasn't been animated at all), but the trip through the steam circuit (including superheater) was rather good. Tie that to a working ellerman lines exhibit, and you are onto something.

 

This is another way of doing it. From videos I've seen it's very effective.

 

I think it was wrong to even think of the NRM Workshop as an "attraction". Clearly someone using some spanners or painting some parts is never going to be exciting, but it was there so exhibits could be worked on and maintained in house.
Clearly what killed it was the debacle over Flying Scotsman where they spent millions on it with their own staff, then had to pay again to get Ian Riley to effectively repeat the work.

Getting burnt over that meant the management decided never again to restore one themselves but to outsource instead meaning the workshop would no longer be needed. Very sad but understandable.

 

That workshop was part of a museum. It gave negligible information to this informed visitor. It was poorly placed and, if no longer required as a workshop, was sensible to reallocate the space.


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Getting back to the T3 there is a nice cut away model of I think a T3 in the London science museum, saw it recently so took the picture. As the NRM and Science museum are the former owner perhaps they could loan the model to display at Swanage station alongside the full size one.

 

I was fortunate enough to visit the museum a number of times while the overhaul of SNG was taking place. Sometimes nothing appeared to be happening however a glance at the time revealed that it might just be lunchtime and indeed it was. In due course the members of the team reappeared in the workshop and activity recommenced. Things were happening but the overhaul lasted from 2015 to 2022 so you were never going to witness anything happening quickly in the space of half an hour or so, preservation and restoration is not like that. I was fortunate to speak to a member of the team for a little while about the work and the work environment - it was rather illuminating at a number of levels.

The activity of preservationists is not a spectator sport. Some do not like to be watched or even less filmed and they are free to make that choice. They may well be present and extremely busy but you won't know because they won't be seen. The work taking place over a month or so would make a half hour video to keep the interested informed but it would not be the full story. If you dropped by the workshop for half an hour what would you realistically hope to see? There were displays on the mezzanine and these might be relevant to what you might witness below. The activity in the workshop was an opportunity to expose the work of restoration and preservation to an observer, to explain the nature of the process, to hopefully educate an observer. But how to condense months of activity and present it to those looking down into the work area trying to work out what was and indeed had been going on. It needed more than the static displays. But there seemed to have been neither the will nor the imagination to develop things.

 

A video of some of her recent light test runs has been uploaded to youtube.

Looks extremely steam tight, and to my eyes pure elegance in motion.

Said it before, and no doubt will say it again, but a credit to the project and engineering teams that worked on her.

 

Have the coupling links been temporarily removed to make sure no-one couples the loco to something by mistake?

 

A single link was typical for passenger locos of the era (because they would never routinely work in reverse with a train).

Whether it is a long-term practical for use on a heritage line is another question, but it is prototypical for the era presented. By SR days, typically a normal screw coupling had been substituted at the front (and the safety chains removed).

Tom

 

Lovely sight.
Nice contrast in cleaning standards - 1890s to 1960s!
Pat

 

As there's only a shackle on the tender, as well, what did they use to pull the train?

 

Magnetic buffers?

Tom

 

Thomas ERTL style.

 

Bookings are now open for the T3 running days in October, 563 returns to steam after 75 years. Join the celebration. (swanagerailway.co.uk)

 

Looks like these trains will be formed of 4 coaches (normal for Swanage is 5). I wonder is 563 will always be restricted to 4? Or is this just a case of easing it in gently until they are sure what it can handle?

 

In theory, it should handle 5, but it makes sence to not over exert it, being newly overhauled, plus, rail head conditions in October are never going to be great, and one thing with most large wheeled 4-4-0s' Is that they do have a tendency to pick up, on a greasy rail head.

 

Shackles are held in place with a pin, so its an easy job to knock the retaining split pin out, and fit an screw link coupling,

 

Interesting to see on the video that the piston rods can be seen going in and out at the front of the cylinders. Would they have had a cover to prevent dirt and corrosion?

 

No different from the piston rods at the rear, really. They get lubricated and the gland keeps dirt out. A cover could be provided but it gets in the way of inspections and maintenance. A tail rods usefulness is arguable at this size, in any case.

 

563 doesn’t have weight restrictions as yet. Loaded test runs take place next week. It will haul 4 coaches during the launch weekend.

As for the tail rods, we will have to wait until p&v exam to see what effect they have had. We weren’t going to make new covers and pistons when the ones that came with it were new! Strictly speaking they are incorrect for this livery. I quite like the look of them mind!