Betton Grange

If Lode Star ever leaves either York, Or Swindon, I bet the very first thing any Host railway would do is inspect it, to see just how though the restoration job was when she was withdrawn for display, to lay to rest, or conferm that she was given a full works overhaul, but have to agree SVR would be the most obvious place if the in ticket engines are expected to be working . as they have suitable stock , both passenger and freight .

 

Lode Star visited Tyseley a few years ago, I wonder if they gave her a look over to see if the story is true.

Chris

 

Lode Star was inspected along with City of Truro & 2516 prior to C o T being put back in working order around 1985. The boiler of the Star was at best "tired".

 

Depends what you want from the event. If you want photos of them side by side, Didcot is the best place. If you want to see them alive and doing what they were built for, you want somewhere you can give them a run and a bit of a challenge if possible too. I’m personally not too bothered about a photo shoot of them all lined up. I want to see them in action. And that ain’t going to happen at Didcot.

 

You can see them in action at Didcot. But I take your point that Didcot's demonstration line while better than nothing, is not a good substitute for a heritage railway line.

 

No, you’re quite right. I was being a little bit sweeping in my statement, but my interpretation of ‘in action’ for the purposes of this discussion is a longer run at a higher speed with a heavier load than Didcot is able to offer. Compare seeing a Lion in a small cage in a city centre zoo to seeing it in space at a safari park and that’s a good representation of my view on how I want to see steam locos in preservation.
This is not to invalidate the views of people for whom the recreation of a mainline shed with locos being prepared is a big attraction, that’s great, and despite all the problems with Didcot discussed elsewhere on this forum it is second to none in my opinion for offering that spectacle for a GW shed. But my personal preference is to see an engine with a good load behind it operating as fast and over as long a round trip as possible. Ergo my vote would be for a preserved railway. Preferably the Severn Valley as it’s the closest major GW heritage railway to me!

 

Or better still the WSR where some sustained uphill work is possible on a long line.

 

Ah but that’s too far away from me in Nottingham! So no good!

 

But better for me

 

Would the Grange & Saint have same axle loading and colour status as the Hall?

 

Well they all look the same...

 

Hall, Saint & Grange - Red (not suitable for current WSR limitations)
Manor - Blue

All look the same? I guess so if you don't know what you're looking at

 

Pretty much. The official locomotive weight figures are all in the low 70s.

 

Thanks Jim, yes, my question which I answered myself was a leading one based on whether the Grange or Saint would be able to run on current WSR where the Hall currently isn't.

 

Maybe but which will happen first? - completion of the Grange or upgrading of the WSR back to red route availability...……..I know where my bet lies.

 

For those having trouble with their GWR 4-6-0 identification I just knocked up a little web page: https://www.devboats.co.uk/gwdrawings/460identification.php
There are a lot of differences, but they are somewhat subtle. Not, surely, more difficult than telling Bulleid Pacifics apart though?

 

The Grange and Manor classes I think are the most difficult to tell apart. On Bulleid Pacific's, I can only tell a Merchant Navy from a West Country by the numbers.

I suppose a non LMS fan can have trouble telling a rebuilt Scot from a rebuilt Patriot and the two Jubilees which were fitted with larger boilers!

 

I would agree on both points. From my images of withdrawn Bulleid's without numbering assistance, if the firebox length is apparent then this has been the decider but then only when one of each type are seen together.
My experience of Grange class are from images only so 6880 is one I'm looking forward to see running.

 

To be fair to non LMS fans (poor deluded fools that they are) the LMS didn't help matters by not really having class distinctions for different types anyway...
This, of course, is how you run a *proper* railway.

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