Current and Proposed New-Builds

Ummm
In the last week I have seen Mk3's in GWR green, FGW purple&pink, VXC grey/red and NWR Yellow, and I've not been looking-those are just the ones I've seen over the fence at work. In past years I've seen them also in red, turquoise, orange, blue. And of course BR blue/grey, executive and I'm sure NSE liveries.

Fact is, there's nothing "authentic" for a P2 to pull on the big railway, so you've got to decide where you want to compromise. Tornado came past the farm last weekend wearing BR green, on 13 choc/cream Mk1's. Cows didn't mind, nor did I.

 

Mk3s with teak effect vinals. I could live with that.

 

Considering "the market" that both Tornado and soon to be Prince of Wales are operating in i.e. the tourist/leisure market. How about L.N.E.R. tourist stock livery of Apple Green and Cream. Or the two tone Blue of the Coronation/West Riding sets, bearing in mind the A4 Locomotive trust [owners of 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley] turned out their Mk1 support coach in that colour scheme which looked so similar to B.R. Blue and Grey. In the days when Gresley ran as 4498 in L.N.E.R. colours.

 

I would certainly applaud the A1SLT's decision to purchase a rake of MK3's as I believe it will help secure the long term future of steam on the main line

 

Duel brakes?

Is that to showcase the fight between the steam loco on the front and the diesel on the back, as to which of them is really responsible for running the train?

 

Or why not Silver Jubilee colours, seeing that those sets had valances too?


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Ooooh, tourist stock colours would be very pretty and something we don't really see about anymore.

Teak vinyls too... oh dear, too many options to hand!

Never mind how to do out the interiors... I do hope they consider the GNER refurbishment which actually managed to quietly evoke the LNER while still being nice and modern.

 

Green and cream would be rather nice, it always seemed to suit the stock used by BR on the West Highland Line. I don't seem to recall anyone disliking the idea of the NRM having a matching rake of stock for if 6229 returns to mainline action, I also don't seem to recall anyone complaining about the SVR painting it's LMS Buffet car Chocolate and Cream just over 20 years ago!

 

Personally, as long as the steam loco is running and hauling coaches that people can ride in, in my opinion that's the important thing, as that's how the bulk of the money is going to come in to keep the steam locos and coaches running. The actual paint scheme of the loco and coaches and whether the match is historically accurate, while nice, is just a bonus. Practically speaking, not every steam railway is going to be able to make a perfect match, and in some ways I think that's a good thing, because it means when you do get a perfect match, it makes it more special. So, first and foremost, let's celebrate the fact that we have coaches that can be used behind steam, that there may be more arriving which will be more cost-effective for some cash-strapped railways to operate, and if you have a personal preference as to what runs at your local railway, you could always donate a bit of much needed cash or man hours in order to support the restoration and operation of your favourite stock

 

Can we put the carriage topic into a separate post and get back to the topic?
There are some GWR designs I’d like to see, such a River Class 2-6-4T

 

A sandwich framed 2-4-0 would certainly be nice.

 

What though are the gaps in the heritage fleet? We have - for example there are a number of pre group 4-4-0;s even if we don't have your particular favourite

 

GWR “The Great Bear”

 

Understandable frustration ..... but ..... suggestions for (especially) pre-WWI locos do take us straight to the question of suitable stock. There is a fair bit of unrestored kit kicking around, though how much of it proves salvageable may be another question entirely.

'Spose there'd be a good case for 60 or so 1887 RCH standard coal wagons (plus a couple of suitable goods brakes) to go with an 'Abadare' or 8 coupled Webb compound ..... if a group were moved to recreate one. Thing is, would a separate follow-on project for a 'Victorian train' be a saleable proposition? I have my doubts.

 

We don't "need"anything. The only things that will be built,if at all, are ones that people want.

 

I reckon it would be. Look at how popular stuff like the original Tallylyn train is. Midland Railway Centre has a half decent victorian set but hardly gets it out any more.

You'd be limited to shorter routes with it though, as "authentic" built stock wouldn't be corridor stuff, or have comforts like toilets!

On top of that, some victorian era locomotives were works of art in comparison to later builds.

 

Quite why the full recreation of carriages doesn't float boats in quite the same way as for locos says something about our movement .... although I'm unsure exactly what!

Yer actual full-on glaringly vintage train has charm by the bucket load, but as @JayDee suggests, the lack of ameneties may temper enthusiasm a fair bit. One thing to salivate over a loving restoration from chicken-coop condition, quite another to introduce swathes of derogated 'faux-heritage' to heavily modified standards.

Does this put some practical limits to loco recreation proposals? Probably not, but a Ramsbottom DX would look as odd pulling 'windcutters' as it would Stanier steel stock.

 

Are modern folks really incapable of holding their bladder for an hour? When I worked in London my commute took that long and I was not compelled to pull over at Long Lane to use the facilities. How the heck did we ever manage to get through double maths?

 

Variety?

There was more variety in the locomotive end, or it feels that way. Coaches were very much rigid sets "of the era" and this only got worse during BR, when the MK1s and such came about while we still had a dozen or so designs kicking about in terms of motive power, let alone the holdouts of the Big Four or even earlier that lurked in small duties here and there. (2 Johnson 6 wheelers of the Midland Railway lurked out at Coalville to work the Grenfield branch until 1962 having been built while Victoria was queen!)

I could very much see it working somewhere like Beamish (where I believe they're doing just that) but beyond that you'd probably be looking at good old fashioned marketing to push the idea of "travel like a victorian". Complete with all the drawbacks.

 

This is the current service set on the Bluebell - four Victorian and one Edwardian non-corridor carriages. Round trip is about an hour and three quarters. I haven’t heard any complaints. So no reason why such things should just be consigned to short demonstration lines like Beamish.



(Not my photo - source https://m.facebook.com/bluebellrail...527860967/10156236526105967/?type=3&source=48)

Tom