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West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by gwr4090, Nov 15, 2007.

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  1. 35B

    35B Nat Pres stalwart

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    Much depends on how desperate the buyer is, and how they assess value.
     
    35B, Feb 16, 2026 at 1:21 PM
    #45321
  2. Sidmouth

    Sidmouth Resident of Nat Pres Staff Member Moderator

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    in the market of steam locomotives what is a premium . Ultimately the price paid is a sweet spot of a seller who may wish to recover some of the significant investment put in over years , or a family seeking to maximise value , versus a buyer who has an their own value, which maybe emotionally or investment driven

    Manor's are almost the perfect preservation engine , especially for longer lines . Named, so resonate with the public, powerful but efficient, so as others have said for the WSR (and WSRA) securing long term requirements and given the unlikelyness of another manor coming on the market the price they were willing to pay may have been driven by other factors than purely condition

    From an engineering perspective as well steam engines are generally repairable, just expensive heavy engineering .
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2026 at 2:04 PM
    Sidmouth, Feb 16, 2026 at 1:51 PM
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  3. John Petley

    John Petley Part of the furniture

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    For all the questions being asked about whether £3 million is a bit excessive, at least the WSR is looking at getting 7821 back in workng order. Spare a thought for 7808 - the first Manor to be preserved , the only member of the class to be bought direct from BR and for a while in the 1970s, a main line performer. Of all the nine preserved examples, 7808 looks by some way the least likely of this popular class to return to steam. (I hope this doesn't count as thread drift)
     
    John Petley, Feb 16, 2026 at 3:10 PM
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  4. brennan

    brennan Member

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    7808 is in a similar condition to 7821 and will require a very large cash injection to return it to working order. It's been assessed on several occasions. A stumbling block was the reluctance of the GWS to enter into a realistic "fix it and use it" agreement.
     
    brennan, Feb 16, 2026 at 4:29 PM
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  5. 1472

    1472 Well-Known Member

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    A type of agreement which is probably now beyond realistic given the sheer expense and risk involved in returning locos to full working order for a time limited period of use.
    As a prominent member of the movement has remarked...."in twenty years time the locos then still running are likely to be the ones running now...". That is a statement more about locos being properly managed & funded in a business like way rather than perpetually relying on the begging bowl.
     
    1472, Feb 17, 2026 at 7:36 PM
    #45325
    silversteellady and 35B like this.
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