MHR Restorations and Overhauls

Try 35029.

 

D'oh!

 

35030 what! I think you have a case of sorry wrong number.......

 

That's more like it.

 

Been at the ginger beer again have we.

 

Don't I wish I had that excuse!

 

35030 was definitely cross sectioned, except they didnt stop at that they diced and sliced her, which is a shame, had she gone to Woodhams who knows what her fate could have been, Might 28 have had a shed mate?

 

https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2018/0...ild-a-roof-for-steam-locomotive-no-80150.html

 

Without wishing to appear glib, was there a reason why a timber fabrication wasn't fitted in the short term?

Glad to see work proceeding though.

 

We're concentrating our fundraising efforts on parts which will be beneficial to both the short to middle term conservation of the locomotive and also to make progress towards 80150's long term restoration. Replacing the cab roof with a permanent one to the original design ticks both those boxes and we think will be attractive to potential donors as it will also improve the cosmetic appearance of the loco and restore some dignity to it.
A temporary wooden roof by comparison has little fundraising appeal and it's difficult to know how such a thing would be implemented. A curving wooden roof to the cab profile could arguably be as complicated to produce as the steel original. If a flat wooden roof were attempted, it can only really be attached to the top of the cab side windows giving insufficient headspace to work in the cab area and blocking off the crew lockers from being used as valuable storage space. If a flat top roof were built up any higher you'd be looking at a square shed which wouldn't go under bridges and could foul other structures on the railway. Since a primary objective is to make the loco moveable and get it up to Ropley, such a measure could therefore be self-defeating. Hope this explains the thinking behind this fundraising initiative.

 

I took @30854 as meaning a "wooden" i.e. temporary roof to keep the weather out to reduce further deterioration before full restoration could start.

PH

 

Sorry if my OP wasn't clear, but I wasn't suggesting running the loco with an exprensive garden shed tacked on top, more simply wondering why the cab was left open to the elements for so long in the first place, when some low cost temporary measure (however hideous!) would appear to me to have provided some degree of protection.

... as, indeed, he did.

 

It all takes volunteer labour to do it and I guess there were higher priorities when 80150 arrived at the Mid Hants. But as a fairly new support group, we are where we are and having finally freed the side control on the bogie we would like to keep it safe from the weather now. The loco is very much on the way back and has a great deal of support from our members, staff and crews.
80150 is after all a loco we can be 100% certain worked watercress trains on the Watercress Line.

 

Between Alresford and Ropley there is a bridge with low headroom its possible that a wooden structure may even if made to the same contour of the steel roof would foul the bridge, as even if using ply as a tempory fix would be higher than the proper cab roof, what happened to the original? it must have gone to barry with it still fitted.

 

Sorry but so what? Protecting the remains from further deterioration does not require a replica of the original pattern structure.

PH

 

When they go to move her down to Ropley it will if you parden the pun, have an impact on things

 

Well put a tarpaulin over it and tidy it up then!! It's doing neither the railway nor Alresford itself any favours at all in the state it is in stuck where it is.

PH

 

There are several tarpaulins over 80150 at present but unfortunately they get ripped to shreds very quickly by the wind that whistles down the cutting, hence the need for a more permanent solution.

 

Fair point but the loco. really does need to be moved a.s.a.p. A very potentially useful "heap of grot" it is but heap of grot it remains for the present which is good neither for potential visitors to the railway nor its neighbours.

PH

 

I think you perhaps underestimate the amount of work that has been done on 80150 in the last 12 months; over 700 man hours in total. As a result, the old girl is starting to look quite respectable these days; far from a "heap of grot" and will only get better with another summer's work. In terms of moving 80150, that is not advisable at present as the bogie has no leaf springs (long ago taken off the loco whilst at Barry) and is likely to derail over points. The old springs from 75079's bogie will be fitted in due course as a stopgap when new spring links have been made and this is all in hand subject to the ongoing generosity of our benefactors.