J21 65033 gets its money!

Was it complete when it was on display in NER livery at Beamish? It certainly looked very smart from a distance as I remember... That was back in 1984 when its last boiler cert. expired.

Richard.

 

What the hell is 'sensationalism' about expressing a personal view of the appearance of a locomotive I saw for the first time yesterday in over 50 years? It's my opinion, nothing more and nothing less. It's not an important opinion, it's just mine. Are we not allowed to have opinions expressed on a message board? Isn't that what message boards are for? What possible damage does that statement do to 'railway preservation'?

Over-sensitive much?

I thought it looked a mess and I said so.

And if anyone asks I'll say it again.

 

I'll make this brief. Yes, it does matter. For a start, members of the group looking after the loco may be among us on Nat Pres. I know of a few individuals who are working incredibly hard to dot the I's and cross the T's for this engine so that we may enjoy her steam again.

Perception is a difficult thing to shift, and things said which may or may not be true or accurate can have lasting repercussions, as we see in the media every single day currently. We should always as a movement think of the perception we are giving and if we are presenting the best possible image both (agreeably) in our rolling stock and also in our words.

Secondly: your definition of "mess" and mine differ, so I'll beg to differ on that. My opinion is that your comment is sensationalist. We can agree to disagree on that.

The facts remain that 65033 was given a coat of paint in the last few years, this has protected her from the elements more so than she was previously, she now also has new owners and funding in place to be put right. Her future looks a damn sight brighter than - for example - the LMS Crab discussed on here (now THAT - I am afraid - is a mess).

You are entitled to hold an opinion. That is true.

 

You're right..... it did look a mess, compounded by the delays we had in achieving permission to start the project. There was no point doing anything to the loco at that point as we knew that once the project began we would waste no time taking it apart to a million(ish) bits.

No offence taken btw

 

Thanks and you're right; it was right old struggle behind the scenes but since the second half of last year it's been going great guns!

 

New tender frames arrived at the workshops next month! It may seem arse about face but we will get the tender finished this year while the loco isn't due completion until early 2022 (there is a logic there, trust me).

The stripping down phase is now more or less complete and it was no surprise to learn that we needed a new copper inner firebox, so the work for that will begin shortly.

More updates to follow soon!

All the very best,

Tobes

www.lclt.org.uk

 

Last week I gave the nice chap at LMS £40K for copper sheeting to build us a new inner firebox and some other bits (such as doorplate).
Onwards!

 

A very simple (but nice) way of putting things!
(Just had to edit that last word of your post, thought it was more appropriate for the GC )

 

Forgive me Matt I’m being thick; just didn’t get the GC reference.... which is cool in a way as the running in mileage will indeed be on the GCR!

 

Just trying to be clever, you said 'onward' in your original post, but for any loco restoration at Loughborough surely the expression should be 'Forward' as in the original Great Centrals crest. (I'm sorry I'm on Furlough at the mo I have way to much time on my hands)

 

I like that Sir; I shall sign off every post henceforth thus in your honour

 

Always a pleasure, never a chore!

 

He actually said "Onwards!". It has always puzzled me what part of speech "Forward" is on the GCR / LNER crest.

 

Look at the bottom of the pic of the GC crest I've posted.

 

"Onward" made me think of the South Eastern Railway (many things do) - wrong end of the country for a J21!

Tom

 

Verb, imperative mood?

 

I think I’ve I’ve inadvertently opened up a can of worms..... wait until you see the livery!

 

Yes, one would think it might be an exhortation, but normally that would require an exclamation mark. Perhaps heraldry discourages such things? Or perhaps it is deliberately vague and could be also viewed as part of an adjectival phrase of the reader's choice? Ignoring its usage to mean presumptuous or impertinent, "forward" is conventionally considered as a positive attribute as in forward-thinking, forward-looking etc.

 

I see Dow notes (Great Central Vol 2, p298), "The apt motto Forward was probably inspired by Watkin, whose South Eastern had earlier adopted Onward. "

 

Refurbished driving wheels back from South Devon Engineering Ltd. Tender wheelsets to follow shortly in order to get a rolling tender chassis this autumn and a completed tender around Christmas.
Just really nice to building it up instead of stripping it down!