4472 What colour

IIRC Dr Marchington, the locomotive's former owner, decided that the locomotive's viability was best served by operating at the premium end of the market, and exclusively on the mainline. As such trains are almost all air braked, and with no intention of ever operating FS on preserved railways, the vacuum brake system was replaced with air.

 

It was intended to dual brake it, similarly to 6233 and 60019. There are various reasons circulating as to why this didn't happen, however, as I cannot guarantee the accuracy, I do not feel it is my place to recall them. They can be found on the forum with a bit of searching however....

 

With regards to colour, can we EITHER have:
LNER Apple Green with NO smoke Deflectors
or
BR Brunswick with them.

Stop messing about putting the smoke deflectors on her in Apple Green, it looks terrible. Don't be half arsed, one or the other.

 

The change from short to long travel valves was made a long while before the Kylchap modification. Fuel economy was the reason for the former whereas the latter was more to improve steaming, particularly with the poorer quality coal that was being used in the 1950s. The fact that it achieved some fuel economy too was a bonus. Given that 4771 seemed to perform very well with her single chimney arrangement, I see no problem with operating 4472 in a similar condition.
Having said that, 60103 with double chimney and blinkers would look nice out on the main line with some maroon stock.

 

Given the increasing use of diesels on the back of tours, the need to carry a support coach and a consist that can carry enough fare paying passengers to be financially viable, the all up weight of main line steam charters are often now exceeding 500 tons. Add to this the increasing difficulty in finding paths on an ever more busy railway. Add to this the difficulty in sourcing coal of consistent quality. All this makes reliability and consistency in locomotive performance a key criteria. The Kylchap arrangement and smoke deflectors may offend the purists but to deliver consistent performance on the main-line I think that they are a must. I recall Roland Kennington making the same statement on a video I have somewhere in my collection.

 

http://www.nrm.org.uk/flyingscotsman/index.asp

Another 250k to complete the restoration?

 

And several more years....

 

Well if they're having a new chimney anyway, what about a single one?

Then I can shut up about Apple Green and smoke deflectors....

 

Bargain.

We could probably overhaul 4144 for that.

 

Well said that man.
Can't see the point in having those German style smoke deflectors on her again.[/quote]


Very, very important, to help minimise drifting exhaust and give the driver a sporting chance of seeing the next signal! Just think how restricted the forward view of the line is from the footplate of a large steam loco compared to any modern traction. It would never do for such a national icon to be involved in at CAT 1 SPAD and risk a major accident......

Perhaps this will be regarded as an inflamatory statement, but surely "safety of the line" is more important than the personal preferences of a few enthusiasts with opinions of the apprearance of a locomotive.

Regards, Neil[/quote]

Category A SPAD my man...

 

/\/\ It only drifts with a double chimney, no trouble at all with a single one, because of the sharper blast.

 

I remember A3s with and without double chimneys and deflectors. I prefer them with and they run better. Let's have her in as close to 1963 condition as possible and renumber her 60111

Cheers
Alan

 

I'll tell you if you like.

When the boiler went for overhaul at Chatham, no attention was paid to the internal pipework. It wasn't until the boiler was steamed back on the engine that it was discovered that the blower pipe, which runs inside the boiler, had a leak and therefore the blower was permanently on. So this was blanked off and the exhaust pipe for the vacuum ejector used for the blower instead. Thereby rendering the ejector unusable, and therefore no vacuum brakes.

 

Gosh! How on earth do all the single chimney locos on the main line - i.e. most of them - cope without a double Kylchap?

 

Managed to have a look around scotsman in the works after employing some elbow grease on the A1s marker lights. It is looking good i have to say the quality of the work so far looks to be superb. The new double chimney was sat on the floor.

Dare i make the suggestion of going to preserved railway to have the work done in return for mileage. The point about having the vaccum brakes put back into operation was to secure more income on a regular basis in between mainline trips. Especially if the NRM are to recoup as much of the outlay for this overhaul as possible.

The wheels were painted apple green about 18 months ago so the livery question is pretty much dead, I am sure its already been said before!

Not a question of coping without a double kylchap but more a case of easing backpressure on the cylinders lessening ware and tare. Also keeping the tubes far cleaner and provides coal useage benefits. I look at it this way it generally enhances the ability of the engine meaning that she dosn't have to be worked as hard giving greater longevity.

chris

 

"The National Railway Museum in York has started a £250,000 appeal to help restore the The Flying Scotsman. Gordon Reed (pictured) is one of the engineers who works on the world-famous locomotive."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/p ... html/1.stm

 

So, run out of money and well overdue... Is this the curse of Flying Scotsman.

There is an Anti Flying Scotsman Facebook

Would it have been cheeper to have built a new one, or just donated to the A1 Trust for your Eastern Pacific needs?[/quote:jcy55217]

 

Isn't there a chimney with a rim (clue) going spare at the NRM? A possible borrow until extra money has been made in service to get a new one..

 

No, let's have her in 2009 condition! She has a continuous history, and the development carried on by her owners since BR sold her is as important as what happened to her before 1963. This applies to all locos that have survived to work in the "modern" era, but particularly so for Flying Scotsman, since she was a pioneer of railway preservation. Refitting the Kylchap exhaust and smoke deflectors whilst painting her in LNER apple green is quite appropriate and definitely the right thing to do, in this case. I'd go further, and advocate more improvements to the drafting, valve gear or whatever, if that makes her more efficient and/or more reliable. Of course there's a balance to be struck between modern expediency and historical accuracy, but just as old buildings can by sympathetically restored and adapted for new uses, so steam locomotives should be developed to suit the work they have to do today.

 

Might well get my cheque book out - so long as it's a double one ..........

How about some roller bearings whilst we're at it?

Remember the LNER's motto was "Forward" not backwards. Gresley would have approved, and how many people on here are actually old enough to remember it an any pre-preservation guise? Not many I thnk, including myself, and I'm well past my half century.