Waterman Steam fleet

I agree with every word. One or two of PW's locos may already be in a stripped down or partially assembled state at Peak Rail with, hopefully, records of what may've been done and/or inspected whilst the restoration scheme was still in progress

 

Due dilligence is rarely cheap or easy, but often cheaper or easier than the potential outcome of not doing it.

From a pricing point of view, doesn't effectively flooding the market reduce prices?

 

You're not entirely wrong, but I suggest that you aren't entirely right either! The 55XXvwas overhauled relatively recently, and must had the its boiler removed from the frames for examination at that time, so presumably the examination report from that time will carry a lot of useful information about normally inacessible areas. I'm not sure about the 52XX and whether it has been dismantled if it has that too will be relatively accessible for a detailed exam, and so will the frames for 6634, at least, although I don't know what has happened to the boiler - the SVR were kept waiting for it for a couple of years but eventually gave up on it - so my conclusion is that reasonably detailed condition reports could be available for all three standard gauge locos with a bit of investigation and research, and that is what I would regard as "due diligence" - which it should not be forgotten can be used to negotiate a price down!

 

6634 was halfway through restoration from Barry condition, and 5224 was partially stripped down after its second 10 year ticket. Considering D172 was several tonnes lighter than it should've been when it was sold, due to a botched overhaul and many parts going missing, I'd be wary spending big bucks on them. Like @Jamessquared said, the only way to truly find out their condition is a full strip down. Even a fully operational, mainline certificated loco can be hiding secrets - 61306 only ran for a few months after being bought by David Buck before receiving a full overhaul.

 

And that gauge is so close to standard that adding a third rail to some track somewhere else won't work, so it would have to be gauntleted.

 

Or in a field near Hemel Hempstead with another pair of Finnish locos.

 

https://www.trenvista.net/en/news/f...ent has announced,the European Union and NATO.

If this comes about you may not even be able to run it in Finland...