WD 196 Errol Lonsdale

Does anyone know if the South Devon Railway have sold this former Mid Hants favourite?

If so, does anyone know where its new home is likely to be?

 

The last I heard the railway was looking to sell both Errol Lonsdale and Sapper and neither loco is listed on the railways current stock list. The only bucket (Austerity) now listed is Glendower which is privately owned.

 

The only buckets are class 40s and I don't think one of those would make it to Buckfastleigh!

Both Austerities were at Buckfastleigh when I went past on the A38 recently but another thread on here suggested they had now been sold. Hopefully they will have an active future with the new owners and not be dumped again when some Ian Allan ABC engine comes along...

 

A "Bucket" was also a nickname given to the Austerity class of locomotive.

 

Seconded..

 

I thought 40s were 'whistlers'

 

Depends if you liked them or hated them - bit like Peaks and wagons, Hoovers and Dog Logs, Goyle and Ped, Tractor and Bandwagon etc etc. That said a well known 40 basher uses the term 'bucket' in an article in this months Traction.

I find it amazing that I have only heard the term 'bucket' for austerities in the last three years and seems to have been brought to the forefront by the current editor of Steam Railway. This is despite War locomotives of all types being a favourite and having shelves straining with dozens of books on the subject. It has been suggested that the phrase was started by some train spotters linked to the Bluebell and as we know south of the Thames was a hotbed of cutting edge steam locomotive design!

Also sems strange that someone like 73087, who I assume likes Standards, would use such a term about a class of loco that a certain Mr Riddles as Director of Transportation Materials at the MOS selected as the best design of loco in its' class. Yes that is better than anything the Big 4 could design or build in the 1940s! Case closed.

 

Not one I've heard.

Where did this little gem originate?

Not on one of the many railways who have either relied on austerities or had their bacon saved by them over the years, I presume?

 

Its been around for donkeys years!

 

Don't know about Austerities in particular, but the term "industrial buckets" has been around for many, many years.

 

It only appears to be well known in the land of the third rail. Surprises me as I would have thought they would appreciate any form of steam power down there in a near steam desert....perhaps they couldn't find Snowdown, Chatham Docks, Longmoor, Bowaters etc as the engines weren't in their shed books?

Or were they all in France enjoying 141Rs? Perhaps not as if they didn't like industrials what would they think of all those really efficient engines with pipes on the outside, more than one dome and not listed in their ABCs?

 

Never heard an Austerity referred to as a "Bucket" in forty odd years of interest in such things. Likewise I have only heard a 56XX 0-6-2T referred to as a "Taffy Tank" in very recent times, and I have been closely associated with 5619 since 1973! Where do these names come from?

 

I've been around for donkeys years as well but never heard that expression.

Why call an austerity a 'bucket'?

Is it because they're functional, no frills locomotives that lack the glamour of the true 'main line' types but, as has been recorded on another thread, they are successful and plentiful?

 

I think, stress think, Steam Railway said sapper had been sold in a recent issue, possibly October/non-member one suggesting it might be going abroad?

 

Originally Posted by Maunsell man Its been around for donkeys years!

Only trouble is there are no donkeys around here.

Now if you had called it a "Puddle Jumper"(Mid Hants terminology)
I might have known what you meant.

 

That's what we used to call the old upright Ford Anglias & Populars.

 

If I recall correctly, they are referred to as Buckets, particularly down here, because they are as common as buckets. That is always the way it has been explained to me. Fact is, love them or hate them, they get the job done.







Just....

 

Alternatively, and I'm only guessing, could it be an extension of the term "p**s-pot", as used by those who like their locos to have animals painted on the side, to describe industrials? In a similar way to 40s being called buckets because they came with a p**s-pot

 

It is ironic if people on the K&ESR call austerities buckets. It is very likely that they wouldn't have a railway today if it wasn't for the fleet of ex MOD Austerities that got them through the 80s and 90s. Haven't been down there for 10 years but I assume they still can not manage without them especially when they need to move more than a couple of vintage coaches?