New build M&GN C class

I don't think this has previously been mentioned on here:

https://www.goldengorse.org/

The group is proposing to build an M&GN C class 4-4-0 loco over approx. 20 years at an estimated cost of circa £2m


Disclaimer: I have no connection to the group - it just popped up on my Facebook feed today.

 

I’ll take it seriously if they get beyond building a buffer beam.

Reminds of the Claud Hamilton group. Very well intentioned but unrealistic.

Personally, with the exception of the projects that are currently well advanced, I can’t see any of the standard gauge new builds being completed.

Didn’t the A1 group have plans for a new build K3 and V3 once the V4 was completed? In fact has the V4 been shelved too?

Sorry to be pessimistic

 

The V4 hasn't been shelved and is very much still on the A1 Trust website.

 

Another "Victorian 4-4-0" project then ?
Wouldn't have thought that the flow of money in from potential supporters would be any higher than the GCR version now under way - possibly less - and that seems to suffer from not being of enough interest to bring in the money in the quantity needed to get the thing finished in a reasonable timescale (there's nobody about now who would remember them in service!)
At least work on that has picked up on that in the past 18 months and progress is being made on a number of fronts, but more cash coming in would speed the process up.

 

Agree, I think only the well advanced ones, like the class 3 82000 tank, etc, will be finished. Wasn't there a proposal to build a new Ben Alder too?

 

That, sadly, is the problem with most new build projects: they're not raising money at anything like the rate they need to. This was very starkly demonstrated in a Steam Railway article some time ago.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a new C class--they were gorgeous engines. But in the current financial climate, we need a dose of realism.

Of course, it's up to individuals to decide how they spend their money. But I fear a lot of folks will end up throwing money away on projects which never come to fruition. Personally, on the rare occasions when I have money to spare, I'd always to choose to donate to a project which looks after what we already have; particularly historic carriages, many of which are still rotting in sidings decades after they were 'preserved'. And, as has been pointed out elsewhere, a carriage is much harder to recreate than a loco, because so many of them were built using exotic hardwoods which are no longer available.

Sent from my SM-A125F using Tapatalk

 

There are several small(ish) new build loco projects around that have been making slow progress for many years. If you want to ensure the supply of suitable locos for some of the smaller heritage railways then you'd be better off supporting some of those. Off hand the Holden F5, LNER G5 and 3MT 82045 projects spring to mind.
For a list* of new builds, have a look at https://www.heritage-railways.com/linksdb/links.php and select New Builds category.
* Note some projects come under the umbrella of larger organisations, and may therefore not be included in this list.

 

Wasn't one of those boilers recovered in the 1980s which ended up in Maldon off an M&GN loco, or am I thinking of one from somewhere else?

 

A quick Google suggests "A Midland Type Locomotive", the Thompson trust say M&GN and Wikipedia believes it to belong to a C Class according to other reporting. Though I can't find out where it and the other C1 boiler ended up.

 

An even more critical statistic might be the age of the main support and volunteer base compared to the likely finishing date of the project. Any project that isn't replacing people faster than they age out is liable to run into problems.

 

Well, the project team posted on the website seem to have a number of fairly youthful people among them, so that seems less of an issue.

Although of course jobs and kids can prevent you from engaging with something like this just as effectively as the Grim Reaper himself.

 

The Claud Hamilton group did too, which never really got off the ground

 

Another easy on the eyes late 19th Century 4-4-0 project - good luck to them.

If they can demonstrate an ability to back up their aspirations with actual metal I would be minded to lend my support.

 

The other C1 boiler was scrapped many years ago maybe at Steam and Sail? Of the 2 remaining boilers one was believed to be from a T1 and the "Midland type" was reported, some years ago, to have been acquired for a new -build but that seemed to be surrounded in secrecy. One, I presume the 'T1' boiler, was at Mangapp's Farm IIRC.
Ray.

 

There are well over 400 standard gauge steam locomotives in the UK. Some of these will be scrapped in years to come unless we gain a sense of responsibility. I am not against new build, but there has to be a really good reason or people will not participate.

 

One or two already have, 48518 for one

 

My own wild idea to semi-recreate an M&GN class…

Convert an austerity 0-6-0st into an 0-6-0 tender locomotive (this has already been done with Douglas/2890) and make aesthetic changes to the smokebox door, cab etc to make it resemble an M&GN D class 0-6-0.

 

the wheelbase would be obviously J94. Personally, I think that 2890 looks wrong somehow, prefer it actually as built

 

Not saying the end result would be a D class, just bear close enough resemblance for Joe Public.

 

Yes, but then you get into the point that for anyone sufficiently knowledgable to care, they will know it is wrong; and for those not sufficiently knowledgeable, would they actually care that you had a loco carrying the identity of a long-lost class?

There's an element that says for heritage railways to be taken seriously, there has to be some kind of element of historical authenticity. That doesn't automatically preclude new builds, but if you are going to do it, do it properly - not the full size equivalent of some botched white metal body that is dimensionally compromised so it can fit on a Triang Jinty chassis. If you've got an Austerity, run it as an Austerity ...

Tom