New Build Claud Hamilton

This all seems slow, careful and sensible Dan. Far better than promises which are unsustainable.
Good luck and have patience with all the 'knockers'.

 

We have just had our first part of the Claud completed. This wooden nameplate will feature on the stand and at shows as a symbol to the start of the project.

http://www.claudhamiltonlocomotivegroup.co.uk/#!blogger-feed/cceh

 

The Strand sounds an excellent place to show off your project - lots of passers by! Ray.

 

So this project has been going for 2 1/2 years now and so far you have managed to produce a wooden nameplate? And also rather than set up your own charity you decided to tag onto the whitwell and reepham station to save you the time and effort?? Very confused with this projwct if im honest. I want to see it built but im quickly loosing any belief I had. Come on guys get out on the fundraising

 

Should they be doing much fund raising and fabrication at this stage? Surely the key work in the early stages of a project like this is to spend endless tedious hours in the archives hunting out every surviving bit of design information, cataloguing and reproducing it?
Then from there there's got to be an analysis of what survives and evaluate whether there's sufficient available? All very unspectacular, but if I wanted to evaluate the credibility of a project a complete set of engineering drawings would go a long way for me... And even if it didn't turn out to go further the cataloguing is still valuable for future generations.

 

Good luck guys. Stick with it!

 

I'm rather surprised that someone with your well-known pedigree regarding "new builds" should respond in this way to the Claud Hamilton latest news Gav106, as the LMS Patriot Project (which I ardently support as you know, including a little financially) shares some similarities: The Unknown Warrior Nameplate (albeit not wooden) is a wonderful focus for the project, there are strong links (tag) to the Llangollen Railway (not surprising as it might be considered a "home" for new builds) and there was much planning and studying of drawings before a Patriot began to appear in all its glory. So I might argue that the Claud group are following good practice in doing what they are doing. They are unlikely to match the success of 45551, at least in the short term, but they seem to be treading the right path, given that, to some, the right path is to stay well away from any new-build project. I'm not surprised that a certain paulhitch marked your post as "like". Please don't ever let me be stuck on a transatlantic flight next to him (only joking PH!). Incidentally, I can't help but notice that, today, there are several threads on this NP topic all about various new builds - they certainly seem to interest people.

 

Thanks for all the comments. We have had great support so far from various New-build groups such as B17, F5, A1 and Patriot and including yourself Gav106, which has been much appreciated.

I will admit now that we were too young to really start a project like this, which I why we have taken along time to set up everything, some of which we have not been able to do such as the bank account. Which then links to the partnership with Whitwell. I have been working at Whitwell for 5 of its 6 years since it was brought, so I have become quite a integrated member in which Me and others now head the model railway group on the site. Me and a friend has recently acquired another steam engine for the site, single-handedly. Whitwell was always going to be the start for the project and with the problem we had in the middle of the year, this meant that we had to change a lot. So the link with Whitwell was needed.

We have some drawings at the moment and we were recently given a works manual by a old steam fitter that worked on the engines.

Fundraising is up and going, people can donated via the forms found on the website so far.

The nameplate came about when we attended the GCR gala earlier this year. We were approached by Alan Smalley, who is apart of the B17 (Sandringham) who offered to build the plate for free. He has also made the B17 nameplates, which you see on stands now. His work is extremely impressive and is very supportive of the Claud team.

We have a painting which will be ready for sale soon and we are currently researching the best way to produce this.

Thanks Again
Dan

 

Hi Dan

Don't suggest you are too young. Too inexperienced to be ordering a boiler or frames, absolutely at the moment but I agree that it is far more important to accurately scope out the project than anything else right now. Get a full set of drawings. Cost and plan the project in great detail and only then start fundraising and building in earnest. The advantage of being young is that you have more time to do it. A Claude is a popular choice, if you can get the basics right and don't try and run before you can walk it can happen but it will be a long haul. My advice (as a potential supporter) is not to try and ask for money until you have a clear plan, suitable venue and the expertise to build it sorted out. Then, and only then, you need to market hard and start to get the ball rolling, at which stage you must keep your supporters up to date with information showing all of the progress you are making. Good luck. I really want to see a Claude

 

I too think that your youth is ultimately an asset. Of course it perhaps works against you somewhat but your undoubted humility, your willingness to take on advice and your clear dedication to the long haul will by degrees, counteract that and work in your favour. Moreover, by being linked to Whitwell and Reepham, you'll no doubt you have access to experienced and knowledgeable people who can mentor and offer their advice and expertise. Take the time to learn as you go and take the time to scour the archives. You'll need to know every boiler stay and every frame-bolt by heart! Keeping your supporters updated whilst setting realistic time-frames and expectation is also critical, and you appear to be doing that.

The nameplate looks great by the way.

 

Thank you,

We have many sections of the group set up but we have taken our time with this as we wanted to do it right.
2 parts are ready to be made once we have the correct amount of fundraising available.

 

Hello everyone,

Its been nearly a year since I last posted but that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy with the project. I have seen some people have mentioned that we are not going places. I am taking my time as I really want to get this right to start with. It would be no good to just rush in and not know what to expect. Only fools rush in as is said.

Again I would also like to distance the group from other disbanded groups. We were not part of them. Its been really hard to lose this image we are getting that we are just this 'Hornby catalogue' or 'Facebook group". Since I took over in early 2013, I have basically started from the bottom and working my way back up again through the processes.

We are now accepting donations via post and paypal. See our website here: http://claudhamiltonlocogro.wix.com/claudlocogroup
We are working up a list of merchandise that we can sell.
We have a home base and various primary 3D drawings and patterns for casting.

Most if not all the team members help out at heritage railways, Working as TTI's, Steam and loco crews and model engineering groups. Some members managed to acquire a standard gauge steam engine in-need of restoration and will be working with that. We are in close contact with ex drivers and firemen who worked with the Clauds, constantly gaining information about the locomotives.

We have a experience CAD draftsman working on the drawings for us.

Again thanks for all the support so far.
Regards

Dan

 

Just looking at this project while checking out some stuff for the P2 thread.

Correct me if I'm wrong but:

The project has been going for over 4.5 years and has achieved....nothing!
The group's website and Facebook pages show and talk more about Hornby locos and pretty 3D pictures than actually getting the project moving.
The group does not appear to be registered as a Ltd company - where do the donations go to and how are these protected?
After 4 years, in March 2015, the group finally announced their first target - to raise £1300 to get the bufferbeam cut. £1300? Seriously - for a bufferbeam? The target has now been revised down to £300-400, but they still don't seem to have the money to get this made. How will they cope when they have to pay for a boiler at £500,000?!

Most worryingly: The group is giving the impression on its website that it is a registered charity (see screenshot attachment), however, the Charity Commission records that charity number against the Whitewell and Reepham Railway Preservation Society Ltd - surely this is wide open to legal challenges?

Does anyone have any reason to think that this project will succeed?


Keith

 

Apparently it's going to be made of Lego! Sorry but this project is just another Fa(r)cebook fantasy, IMHO of course. I realise that others disagree, as is their right, but I strongly believe that schemes like this, the J50, and Stuart's J39, L1 (x2) etc trivialize what is, in reality, a very serious undertaking involving lots of other peoples' money.
Ray.

 

You are bang on here and people need to come back down to earth, it's going to be hard enough in the future to maintain what we already have without money being dibpverted to fantasies like this.

 

However, there is only one new build locomotive that really matters at this time of year. It is the most important new steam locomotive we will EVER build, for it will be so much more than just another new build locomotive.

 

Agree 100% the only mainline new builds with any merit IMHO are P2 no 2007 and the Patriot, the smaller locos being built for operation on preserved railways are another matter.

 

deleted

 

Maybe you missed the section where he wrote 'Imho' or I my humble opinion. Its only his personal opinion. Everyone is more than entitled to that.

I have my own opinions on the newbuilds and as you can see by my many posts on here im in favour of all of them. That doesnt mean i believe that they will achieve their goal (i hope they do) as i keep my eye on a lot of their progress to see how things are going. We can all learn from each other and help the movement in general.

The Saint will be the next newbuild to steam, hopefully next year, followed by one or two more in 2017 and then hopefully a good few more in 2018. Each has its own merits and supporters (unless your a wealthy person you need a good few of these!) to help it get to the stage of completion.

 

I don't count Beachy Head, the County, Saint, Grange and the 47Xx as new builds as they are using existing parts and have the backing of existing Enginering facilities. As for the Clan, this was the least successful of the BR Standards so why would anyone want another one? I know the Hengist folk tell us that they are addressing the faults of the original design but the main shortcoming was they were underboilered, deal with this and you end up with a Britannia.
There is a limit to the available finance for all aspects of railway preservation and some of the more madcap schemes we are now seeing is just diluting the resources perhaps a bit to far.