Dean Forest Railway

Like @Jamessquared I have "no iron in the fire on this one either way" especially as it clashes with my local gala.Where ironically of course we have a DFR loco.
But there is a war on, as they used to say, and maybe that has changed perception of what happens going forward. Revenue streams may well be viewed as at risk.

 

Some railways can be very 'loose' with locomotive loan contracts - or the absence of them. I know of one railway that has lent a locomotive and carriages to another railway several times, each time with no written contract, no exchange of insurance details, and only a vague concept of who was to do what about coal etc. Having, on one occasion, found within a month or so some damage on the locomotive which cost a a five figure sum to repair (even with volunteer input) and took about a year - they lent it again, still with no written contract, and then months later they still hadn't sent an invoice to get paid for it !

 

Pure speculation by me but I suspect that there has been a falling out for some reason as, the last time I met Bill Parker he was at the DFR testing his Prairie loco and it was all very friendly. It was a relatively long time ago, though. Time flies when you get older.

 

Yes that would have been 5521 in 2007. The engine ran on the DFR between 2009 and 2012 over various stints and then again in 2016. He also helped to get 30120, Met 1 and 30587 to the railway for a gala in 2016. The Flour Mill employs a number of DFR volunteers.

 

Willy is at the railway.

 

STEAM mag reveals said reason....which is pretty petty IMO

Image nicked from another source elsewhere hence why full article isn't shown

 

That's bizarre. What pre grouping carriages will it run with at the GWSR I wonder?

 

Depends on what was agreed from the outset. I can fully understand not wanting to throw it straight into hauling Mk.1 stock; I believe the plan had been to celebrate the loco's 150th at the gala and the coaches were pretty instrumental in that.

The loco has appeared at Beamish already where it is now in GER blue... and working with wooden bodied stock.

For the GWSR, I imagine a similar plan to the Pug and Borrows of recent years - shunting/freight with one assisted trip at the start/end of each day, though time will tell on that one.

 

I would imagine the GWSR aren't getting it supposedly for free. It does start to make more sense if they were told you can have it for free, if you spend the money you would of spent hiring it on getting appropriate carriages in...

 

Willy was already on site ahead of the event so presumably the vintage carriage rule wouldn't have affected that from operating? All very strange.

 

Making a guess based on the above posts, 229 was to work with vintage coaches to avoid putting too much strain on it straight after overhaul. There would have been no such concerns with Willy, but if they're owned by the same person, it adds up that he may withdraw both his engines.

 

It may of not prevented it from operating, but may of affected being able to run it without steaming fees (and it was the unexpected steaming fee costs earlier quoted as reason they were withdrawn from the event).