2999: Lady of Legend

Improved Engine Green.

 

Unpossible. Middle Chrome green cannot be improved upon.

 

Nah. Rail blue with double arrows would look much better.

 

That only suits locos with flat sides.

 

Time to put a casing on a Saint in that case. Might break the 130 barrier then.

 

It'll have to beat the "Parked in a siding" barrier first...

 

NOOOOOoooooooooo!!!

 

Nah, didn't you know? A 'Saint' flew to the moon and back

 

To me it looks as if they had to replace the cab sides at some stage and remodelled them to match a 4,000 gallon tender.

 

hello
just look at those driving wheels !!
some pics from didcot on sunday at
www.flickr.com/photos/15931796@N00/

 

What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment...!

 

I think it sits slightly uncomfortably for me in that I find it hard to justify the dismantling of one loco to build a new loco, when the same collection has complete locos that have not run for a number of years. When a loco like Hinderton Hall hasn’t run for almost 40 years, I find it hard to justify new building a Saint out of another Hall.

It feels a little bit like a child in a Roald Dahl story who always wants a new toy and neglects the perfectly good toys that they already have. It seems a little bit self indulgent.

No doubt it is an achievement and looks very nice but at the same time, I can’t help but wonder if other locos at Didcot have lost out by having resources and volunteers drawn away from them to this project.

 

There's several halls in preservation, with a couple in service. I wouldn't be inclined to dig deep to restore another. Nr would I be particularly inclined to fund a blue King.... I would, and did, put my hand in my pocket for a saint, or for a narrow gauge Baldwin.

Many people can't afford to regularly fund railway preservation, but for a project that particularly appeals, well, you find some money. I would not find the money for a less interesting project, so its not money that might have gone to restore Hinderton Hall, its money that might have been spent on the electricity bill, or Waitrose instead of Lidl

 

The people have spoken though! Another Hall or a Saint? Bear in mind 4942 was always bought from Mr Woodham for this purpose. If you want too @Monkey Magic why not approach the GWS with a plan for 7808 or 5900? I'm sure your input will be welcomed.

 

Didcot appear to be having a bit of a crisis when it comes to operational steam, so once the saint is in action they should focus attention back to the existing survivors in restoration. At least until 1014 or 4709 are on the home straight

 

I know a fair few GWR admirers who bemoan the fact that many of the stalwarts of the early days at Didcot have been out of traffic and seemingly ignored for so long.

 

I thinking the place has suffered from a lot of internal politics starting with the saga of the King. Hopefully that will now be put behind them

 

I think that you are being a little ambitious suggesting that either the County or Night Owl are on the home straight...

Didcot have identified the need for small loco's, Trojan is under overhaul (presently delayed by an initially unforeseen need for a Tubeplate from recollection), 1369 restoration is I believe is due to be restarted again after that, plus a plan is in place for 1466 to be done (by a third party contractor) by 2021 (I think) and 3650 overhaul is underway.

I think the crux of the matter with many of the early stalwarts is that they are simply not suitable for operation on the Didcot site and with no prospect of mainline running it doesn't really make financial sense to restore them, especially as they are not unique which could affect the potential for the hire market, Hinderton, Burton Aggie and Cookham were a big part of my early indoctrination into all things GWR, but I can understand why they are not high on the list of priorities. There was an offer from a third party to restore Cookham in exchange for a period of operation, that was turned down for whatever reason but I recall that in the last Echo the GWS confirmed that they would consider such offers on their own merits.

A new Chairman elect has been identified so that might signal a change of direction, who knows, as I have said before Didcot is stuck between a rock and a hard place in some ways, as it cannot offer the train ride that most railways can, nor the dry clean environment that a museum can (and that many normals like), its USP appeals to you and I but not possibly the majority.

 

Of course (as we can see all around us in many places and different contexts) the people may speak but they may not necessarily be making wise decisions...

I'd also say that in railway preservation there are a lot of one-person armies who have grand ideas and no idea how to make them reality, I am not sure that the world needs another one.

But put simply - there are locos that I saw and rode behind a lot in the 80s that I have not seen steam for many years - whether that is Gordon, Hinton Manor, Bodmin, Swanage, Stowe, Mountaineer and I'd like to see them get a little more love.

 

There's normally a good reason for a loco to be sidelined for long periods. In the case of Gordon I believe it needs a new firebox which puts a lot of noughts on the end of the overhaul bill. Hinton Manor did a good job as a three dimensional advert for the SVR at Swindon when they had two working Manors and we have quite a few working Bulleid Pacifics