7027 Thornbury Castle

Or Crab 42859

 

Other way around surely - 45015 was working as recently as 1986 at which time 7027'd already been sitting around for 23 years.

 

Any idea as to why it had a brief move around, you would have thought that it's new owners would have jumped at the opportunity while it was out to get it back to where they could start at least preventing further decay.

 

One of the aspects that remains as clear as mud is whether it actually has new owners or only prospective new owners who haven't yet paid the full purchase price.

 

I assume it was moved out in order to clear its previous resting place for a recent event (e.g. the 50 wagon goods train). Only guessing though.

If I was the GCR management I'd be charging £100k/month rent per loco length occupied (that's about 3 loco lengths given the various wagons and stray wheelsets); they'd have enough in the kitty to buy and restore the thing by now. *Sigh*

 

I think pmh is correct as the two Windcutter wagons came out of the headshunt to go on display in Quorn yard.
But then the 37 diesel was moved to get big stuff out of it and the boiler etc appeared in the yard. Now the two windcutter wagons are at the North end of the headshunt with the boiler and tender to the South of them. There will probably be another shunt to prepare for the Quorn W & W Weekend.

 

https://flic.kr/p/2oMSM5H

Boiler moved back to Loughborough today ready for refitting to the frames apparently.

 

I have a suspicion that all is not as it seems

 

Pure speculation on my part, but if I were going to move a loco then I would want to unite the boiler and frames so the move could be done with a single lorry. Or, maybe someone just wants to reduce the storage space taken up by separate components.

 

There's also a photo of the frames being rewheeled with just two pairs of driving sheels.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/loose_grip_99/53024870277/

 

This whole situation still makes me sad.

Not preservations finest hour.

 

Note "new-build" and "locos" plural.

The last we heard about the GWS's plans was that they would definitely not be trying to use the frames for a Star. It was unclear whether the purchase included the bottom half at all or was of the boiler alone.

So who is planning to use the frames, motion, etc? And if not for a Star, and for new-build rather than spares for other Castles, then what new build?

Or is "new-build locos" just a sloppy mistake?

 

What is the difference in context that you see here?

This is a somewhat odd argument - it appears to be suggesting that 7027 is worth preserving because of its post-withdrawal history.

 

AFAICS Its just a chap taking a couple of snaps as he's passing. Analysing every nuance of his phrases in detail or expecting him to be privy to any or all plans being made seems to me to be, to say the least, optimistic.It may simply be that the last thing he heard was the dubious wittering from the 4709 group about using the chassis for a Star.

 

Volunteers having done quite a sizeable amount of work on starting its restoration having the rug pulled out from under them. The wider implications of breaking up near complete locomotives for new builds. There’s a litany of issues that have been discussed over the last year. I suggest you read back through the thread.

 

As has become clear with the whole 7027/4709 saga what the hierarchy of the GWS want to do and what others decide to do within the umbrella of the GWS are often rather different things!

 

To summarise - Pulling a Boiler of a ' Barry' is Ok. Pulling one off something that someone has earmarked for preservation and had work done to that effect is not so...

 

Actually both are ex Barry but the difference between them is that 7027 was an early(ish) escapee and eminently restorable while 2861/48518 were unlikely to be restored in the near future. Having said that I still didn't agree with them being cannibalized for Didcot's Frankenstein locos particularly since so few of the recovered components were actually used in the 'recreations'.
Ray.

 

Bearing in mind restoration had halted and there appeared to be no likelihood of it resuming, how long would it have had to sit out in a headshunt rotting before breaking it for spares became acceptable?