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Bluebell Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by Jamessquared, Feb 16, 2013.

  1. jnc

    jnc Well-Known Member

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    If the fox had all paws on the rail, it'd be fine - just as birds are fine perching on overhead 14KV distribution lines. Some other part of their anatomy has to touch something else, at a different potential, to cause a problem. Also, those linemen who work on live very high voltage distribution lines, from helicopters; those things are usually hundreds of KV.

    Noel
     
  2. Enterprise

    Enterprise Part of the furniture

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    Yes obviously but the fox would have to step on to begin with. It might learn to jump on after a few jolts. Either way I doubt it would have a long life.
     
  3. Enterprise

    Enterprise Part of the furniture

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  4. 45669

    45669 Part of the furniture

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    I've been spending my lockdown time going through some of my old VHS tapes, digitalising them and posting the results on YouTube. The latest one is a video taken on the Bluebell during a visit in July, 1994 and if anyone would like to have a look, here's the link:



    Hope it's of interest.

    TTFN,
     
  5. goldfish

    goldfish Nat Pres stalwart

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    Great to see the Q1… wouldn’t it be good to see it in steam again?

    Simon
     
  6. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    There's quite a lot of affection for it on the railway from those who were around when it was in traffic (the only moan you consistently here is that it was heavy to clean the firebox during preparation). AIUI though it needs new cylinders, so any rebuild would be very significant and therefore an agreement with the NRM would have to be suitably long to recoup the investment. I get the sense the NRM are happy to have it at York at the moment to represent an otherwise under-represented part of railway history in the collection.

    Tom
     
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  7. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    The Q1 is fantastic. I would love to see it in steam again and on tour of the ex-SR heritage lines. I think it only ran on Bluebell, but I know some were based at Guildford so I figure that they must have worked over the MHR. It'd look good on the Spa Valley as well. Did they work to Swanage?
     
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  8. green five

    green five Resident of Nat Pres

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    I would love to see the Q1 steam again. I heard a rumour some years ago that the MHR were offered her for restoration but they opted for 30925 instead as less work was required on the Schools. Never found out if this was true or not.
    My Dad has very fond memories of the Q1's as they regularly passed by his window at school in Weydon, Farnham.

    Sent from my I3312 using Tapatalk
     
  9. 30854

    30854 Resident of Nat Pres

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    I was lucky enough to travel behind C1 (and agree it's a fantastic machine) during it's stint on the Bluebell , something that in all the years it's resided on the line, I've consistently failed to manage to achieve with Blackmoor Vale. :(
     
  10. 73129

    73129 Part of the furniture

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    My first visit to the Bluebell was a ride behind the Q1.
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2021
  11. Cosmo Bonsor

    Cosmo Bonsor Member

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    I was involved in the 90s overhaul of the Q1. It's an interesting engine.
    It returned to traffic in '92.
    I fired it a lot. Somewhat heretically, I found it a dirty engine to be on.
    As Tom said throwing the fire out was deeply unpleasant, we used to do that at the end of the day then.
    It had loads of go though. It excelled at turning burning coal into an accelerating train. A favourite trick for drivers was to offer someone to be in the cab on a run round and give it a good amount of regulator. The guest would nearly fall over. A canter up to the tip would be fun.
    Driving it backwards is a pain, you had to stick your finger in the end of the brake valve handle to avoid a burn.
    Glad I went on it, not desperate to see it return. I've got a list and it's not on it.
     
  12. torgormaig

    torgormaig Part of the furniture Friend

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    So the NRM offers to let you overhaul and operate the Q1 again. You then have to decide which loco you are not going to overhaul when you do this one instead. Do you not overhaul the C, or the E4, or the Dukedog, or Blackmore Vale, or Stepney, or the Adams tank........? I could go on..... Lets face it the Bluebell has one of the finest collections of locomotives in the country, some (many?) of which may never be steamed again. Do you really need another loco to add to this list? Why not enjoy the many treasures that you have and work towards running these rather than pine for the Q1. I personally wouldn't want to see it steamed ahead of any of those mentioned above. You can only overhaul so many locos in a given period of time after all.

    Peter
     
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  13. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    I tend to agree - there is also the point that if we were to host another loco and store it under cover when not in use, it inevitably means moving one of our own locos outside. You can't do everything.

    Tom
     
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  14. andrewtoplis

    andrewtoplis Well-Known Member

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    I remember being told "Bulleid spent years with a wind tunnel designing the Q1 to get the maximum amount of dirt on the crew from any angle". I worked on it a couple of times as a very new cleaner.

    It is a power class 4 or even 5, which Bluebell is blessed with plenty of - it strikes me that if you could have anything from the NRM you'd pick something a bit smaller like the D class. I'd go for Gladstone, personally...:D
     
  15. goldfish

    goldfish Nat Pres stalwart

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    I literally only said it would be great to see the Q1 in steam again… I'd have expected a response like some of the above if I'd suggested that the IoWSR take it on as a restoration and gala day project… ;)

    For now, it's safe and undercover, but hopefully at some point in the future it will get to turn its wheels again somewhere.

    Simon
     
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  16. Monkey Magic

    Monkey Magic Part of the furniture

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    I think mentioning things like the Q1 to Bluebellites has the same triggering effect as mentioning Mk1s or the words Newport to a Vectisian. 'Won't somebody please think about Stepney...'
     
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  17. Johnb

    Johnb Nat Pres stalwart

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    I asked about Stepney and was told virtually everything on it would need to be replaced. I asked what could be salvaged and was told the whistle works OK!! Tom may be able to add more.
     
  18. Jamessquared

    Jamessquared Nat Pres stalwart

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    I think when you are loco crew, there is often a loco for which everything suddenly "clicks" and then you tend to feel fondly towards it in years to come. (I'm still waiting, but I'm sure it will happen ;) ) Hence I suspect why if you talk to many people who have been around for 30 or so years now and grew up on locos like the Q1 or 75027 when they were much younger, they are held in high regard by that generation. I know a lot of my contemporaries as firemen really like the E4, which did a lot of miles roughly between 2005 - 2015ish when we were starting out. For me its the H and the O1 - the O1 in particular was the first loco I fired all day as a cleaner, three trips to Kingscote, so will always hold a place of affection.

    That said, @torgormaig and @andrewtoplis both make salient points. @torgormaig correctly points out that we need to concentrate on our own fleet; and @andrewtoplis for pointing out what is often overlooked, which is that it is mid-sized engines that we have relatively few of, in comparison with large (class 4+). Which is one reason why the C / H / O1 / E4 / Dukedog tend to come round fairly quickly at the end of their stint, whereas locos like the 9F, 75027 and 1638 can spend long periods out of traffic.

    Tom
     
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  19. Cosmo Bonsor

    Cosmo Bonsor Member

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    Yes, there is often an emotional attachment to an engine or two that you have spent your formative years learning the ropes. It is random though. I did a lot of turns on 75027 and 541 but to me they are somewhat meh.
    However I passed my firing test on 1618 and driving test on 1638 so I will always have a soft spot for U Boats.
    Equally I took parts of both driving tests including a discontinued grade on 473 so have a fondness for that one too. I did a lot of turns in both of its last two spells in traffic. It's great when you master the air brake.
    As for everything clicking I got 263 completely sussed one week a long time ago. You feel like you suddenly 'get it'.
    Then of course you spent the next six months firing like a pillock.
    Looking forward to another spin on Duke Doggy Dogg.
     
  20. Big Al

    Big Al Nat Pres stalwart Staff Member Moderator

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    I agree. It doesn't have to be on The Bluebell. Anywhere that would find it useful like the Spa Valley, for example. It's ok where it is but to my mind doesn't sit comfortably as a NRM exhibit. Not old enough; not attractive enough; just unusual and actually very useful if in steam.

    For a class of loco that once stood in on the ACE after a failure, it really deserves better.
     
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