Collection X

Does she know?

 

I think you got a good deal there as I expected that to go for a lot more. I was very tempted to put a bid in, as I was for a footplate trip on one of their tanks although I could probably blag one off Will if I asked him nicely, but I still have doubts that I would be able to travel by then. The IoM Government stated last week that they do not expect that it will be until next September that they expect everybody over 50 will have been vaccinated in the IoM. I hope they are being pessimistic and are just trying to manage expectations in case there are any delays but I doubt travel restrictions will be lifted in a hurry.

 

I hope the VOR will have mentioned to her that they have started pimping her out for cash.

 

Yes I was expecting the prices to seriously jump up in the last few minutes but this did not appear to happen. I did expect I would have been outbid at the last moment.

Not sure the auction has caught the attention of many people or maybe it has come at the wrong time for people to feel confident shelling out large sums of money. I feel lucky to have remained employed all through this year but am not overly confident over what the future will hold.

 

Ah, "The Bearded Trespasser" as he is known on one forum - and that's the politest name he's called there...

 

It's videos like these that give others ideas on trespassing on Heritage Railway land and also adjoining privately owned land looking for artifacts, upsetting locals etc.
If permission was granted then fair enough, if not, it isn't good.

 

Heritage railway unveiling 'unseen' steam locomotive collection thought to be scrapped (UK)

 

I think if you go to the Vale of Rheidol website, you can now see much more about Collection X., it appears from Peter Rampton's book that he was willing to allow other groups to take on the restoration of the collection I am sure there area few that most of us can't wait to see in steam at some point.

 

Where on the website?

 

I looked on the website, I couldn't find much. Whereabouts did you find 'much more'?

 

There’s a listing of locos in the collection at:
https://vor.wales/engineshed/

Scroll to the bottom, it’s after the details of the current ‘museum’ locos. The table’s a bit hard to read (at least on my phone) as part of it’s over the background photo.

And some recent videos about Collection X on their YouTube including the news report entering the legendary shed at Peter Rampton’s farm: https://youtube.com/@rheidolrailway

 

Here is one link

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2293694191091917

 

There are a few errors in that list and for example the Indian CC loco is described as a 4-6-0 yet its a pacific, and the Gwalior loco's are described as Dabhoi Gwalior Railway but as far as I'm aware (and I visited Gwalior in 1982) Dabhoi is quite some distance away and had a large system of NG lines but was 2'6". . .

 

Well. Now that we have the festive season upon us, I have had the chance to review the Collection X book, and I am still fighting my way through it. I have also seen from various videos that a few locos have now gone to new homes, which is one way to get them back into steaming condition. But I was wondering which loco out of this collection you would like to see back in steam. This is not an official poll, but one set out for the curious.

I do understand that both a lot of money and effort will be required to get just one locomotive working, so to that end, I would suggest that the first loco to be returned to steam would be one that could be used on either the Vale of Rheidol or the Brecon Mountain Railway, so I would suggest that we may see one of the Gwalior Pacific's being returned first of all. What do you guys think?

 

Just let the VoR get on with it Colin.
They’ve already said that some of the locos will be restored, so let’s just look forward to seeing the finished product.
A poll on here means diddly squat.

 

The VoR have already confirmed that one of the Pacific’s is planned to be restored. The timeframe stated in the press was circa 3 years but this was dependant upon engineering capacity which is known to be fluid for any railway and with the VoR carrying out external work it’s probably even more so. Since the announcement we know that the railway is converting nr9 to oil early next year and they are working on the Bagnall Diesel from collection X to act as motive power on fire risk days. Therefore this will most probably be the next locomotive to return to traffic.
As for what’s next, whilst the railway appears to be more aware of what the enthusiasts would like (eg livery changes) it’s more likely only to maintain interest and therefore bums on seats. Ultimately although a charity, they are still effectively a commercial working railway and they are only going to return locomotives back to traffic that can earn their keep which means either large locos that can match the Rheidol tanks (eg Gwalior Pacific’s or Renishaw nr 5) and / or the smaller locos that can replace those on the ‘driver for a fiver’ that could soon be out of ticket. Those in between, alas are not likely to be seen in steam unless someone else stumps up the cash or there is a use for them as a supporting loco during special events eg taking a small train to Capel Bangor and back. But with that they will require additional coaches which creates additional constraints.

also, to note, the editor of the VoR newsletter actually requested suggestions on what they could restore a few years back but no one replied! I think his suggestion was a Lawley so may be we could read into this…..

(in a response to a Facebook post many many years ago, the previous manager of the VoR did suggest Renishaw Nr 5 was ‘third’ on the list to be restored but how true this was in anyone’s guess. It could be a useful loco as it’s tractive effort is greater than the GWR tanks but based upon discussions surrounding its sister Monach it would probably at least require conversion to oil to be able to work successfully on the VoR. In his book, CC Green did identify that this type of loco was considered for the railway in the 1970’s when it was close to being sold but the prospective purchasers bought two 0-8-0s from the Meklenberg railway, one of which was stored at Boston Lodge for a while before being sold back to Europe)

 

I haven't got round to reading the book yet, though it has worked it's way up to the top of the pile and is next in line. The sad thing about the collection is that a number of the items are of gauges that make them difficult in terms of where they might run - there are some 2' 6" locos that it would be lovely to see working, but where in the UK could you run them? There are also some nice 2' gauge items which it's difficult to justify expending resources on, because there are other examples already running elsewhere.

From what I know of the collection I would say top of the list must be Bagnall 3124 which is already being worked on, as it is potentially very useful on the VoR.

Once that's in traffic, if resources are available for not-very-useful locomotive, my vote would go for the Dick, Kerr. It has some contextual links to the Welsh narrow gauge and I am tempted to wonder whether there might be a possibility of fitting a Dorman 4JO petrol engine to it, as it originally had, in place of the Deutz diesel that it now has - possibly some tie-up with the FR? The most important thing, however, is that the existing external finish MUST be preserved, as that really marks this loco out amongst almost all others in the UK. Far too many locomotives have been ruined by being painted up to showroom condition, that it's now virtually impossible to find one that looks like it did when working (or even when it left the factory).

After that, a Gwalior pacific would be another potentially useful loco on the VoR, and a Lawley would be the next not-very-useful loco. That gives four machines that are unique in UK terms, and enough to keep the workshops busy for the next decade or so.

 

Welshpool & Llanfair is 2’ 6” gauge but there’s always the loading gauge to consider.
There's the Sittingbourne & Kemsley and the Whipsnade Zoo railways too.

 

As well as loading gauge, there's axle loading, total weight (which would probably rule out Sittingbourne) and radius of curvature to consider. I don't think any of the existing 2' 6" lines could accept some of the locos in the collection. Probably need to find a standard gauge line that's not doing very well, and regauge it if you wanted to see those locomotives working properly.