SVR Loco Newsy News / discussions

If I'd had a second mars bar to wager to would have gone on West Coast Rlys.

 

Which suggests to me that the loco hasn't been bought by LSL! Either Ian Riley or David Smith? Or equally could be someone else!

 

People have called for a "Friends of 45110" group to be set up over the years, but despite much bleeting no-one stepped forward.

The loco does not feature in the immediate plans, and there are far more appropriate / suitable locos awaiting their turn in the overhaul queue on the SVR.

The SVR needs cold hard cash, hopes/dreams/nice-to-haves wont keep the SVR everyone knows & loves.

Difficult decisions need to be made, and this one feels correct. As a shareholder it would have been nice to hear about it 24 hours before the press release was put out, but oh well. At least the current management team are being proactive; an increase to the original level of services proposed and doing what's needed to keep the SVR alive. I'll support this current team over the previous lot.

 

The real question, perhaps, as it wasn't formally offered for sale, is whether the shareholders got the best possible price for it!

 

I suspect at the moment it's very much a buyers market.

 

I would have thought the SVR would have a good idea what a fair price was, but also weigh in the best prospects for the loco and also the number of people with pockets deep enough to buy & restore such an item.

I am sure we we would all love advance notice such things, but what would that have actually achieved other than raise people's emotions? The railway and management need to make hard commercial decisions and I think us supporters need to step back and trust their judgment.

The loco was hidden away gathering dust and had little or no prospect of being restored, I said some time ago if someone made a sensible offer to buy and restore it, they would be mad to refuse.

I personally look forward to a working future for 5110, you can't beat a black 5!

 

It must be a done deal for the loco and tender to have been released. If it has gone to Carnforth it must almost certainly have been bought by WCR in one of its guises - just as 44767 was bought with a similar lack of fanfare. I cannot see it going there for storage or contract overhaul. If I'm right then WCR will now have 3 Black 5s in their collection, I wonder what that implications that has for other engines - like Ian Riley's and the K1 on future Jacobite services? If I was the well know conspiracy theorist on this forum I'd also wonder if its acquisition has implications for the future of 48151.

 

I agree it was never going to be restored by the PLC in the current climate and there is not enough space to store it where it can be seen best to have the money in the bank.

 

48151 is owned by another group some the decision will be with them when to sell its stored in the engine house. The SVR is going to have much lower loco requirements more in line with the GWR that only has a fleet of 4 operation locos.

 

Think you have your wires crossed, 48151 is under overhaul at Carnforth, 48773 is in the Engine House.

 

Carnforth's locos haven't been regular visitors to Fort William for many years - why knacker your own locos on that line when you can hire someone else's?

 

Sad to see that 45110 has left the SVR given the amount of time it has been at the railway but if there’s a more realistic chance of it being overhauled and used more quickly (plus raising funds for the line), then it’s probably a sensible business decision.

My only query would be that as it’s allegedly still in pretty good condition from its previous overhaul where a lot of money was spent on it by the SVR (see links to previous NP discussions), I would have thought it was a sensible choice for overhaul by the railway rather than selling it - however, I expect there is inevitably much more to it than that. It will just go good to see 45110 running again!

https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/45110.16705/

https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/severn-valley-and-45110.135035/page-2

 

Given that it has languished out of view for years and the current shortfall on the SVR Appeal, this is an eminently sensible move. It will help close the financial gaps whilst raising the prospect of this locomotive re-entering traffic.

 

Sad that 45110 has been sold, but understandable in the current climate and situation.

I'd rather have seen it go elsewhere than Carnforth, as it will limit opportunities for many people to see and appreciate it.

However, I assume this means that an operational future is on the cards- which is a better prospect than it had in the short-medium term at the SVR.

Chris

 

I wonder if it will next be seen sporting a GWR safety valve cover and painted in Harry Potter red on its way to some theme park?

 

I find it a bit odd that the sale has been carried out in this way . Surely if the railway wanted the best possible deal it would have put it up for sale to the highest bidder.
As it is no one knows if that has been achieved and they seem to have alienated another section of the of their membership and shareholders if some of the comments on FB are anything to go by.

 

The Press Release was 11.52 to my inbox, 15 minutes after the internal announcement. Rail Advent are quick off the mark in recycling PRs, I’d be gobsmacked if the SVR was actively using RA to release news.

On a more general point about releasing news first to non-working members and shareholders, I raised the question and was told there’s no policy to do so. I notice it’s not on the website or Facebook page, so I guess the newsletters in September will be the first SVR communication.

I too am sad there was no ‘46443’ opportunity for interested SVR stakeholders to buy 45110, though one could speculate that there can be reasons for that.

 

Are you certain of this ? Surely if it has become part of the WCRC fleet then there is a good chance of main line running which would (a) be better for the locomotive and (b) give more people the chance to see and appreciate it - perhaps even travel behind it on the main line. With no disrespect to the heritage lines in general and the SVR in particular the operation at low speed with many stops over a short length of line does not give the locomotive the opportunity to 'stretch its legs' and - as others have accepted - the sale helps to boost the funding effort that the SVR is currently engaged in.

Many years ago I was poo-pooed for suggesting that the future of heritage lines lay in the transfer of locomotives between lines on both short and long term contracts but I have been proved right over the years as such transfers have become commonplace within the movement. This current sale by the SVR may herald a new era where lines with stored locomotives awaiting overhaul may have sufficient locomotives available that they will sell 'surplus' locomotives to those with funds and resources to restore locomotives thus gaining another source of income. There is - in addition to the SVR sale - the recent sale of class 31/4 31466, the long term loan of Manors to the WSR, the offer of 9629 for sale and recent sale of 34092 to the ELR thus suggesting that owners nearing the top of their ladder are seriously thinking of the future of their locomotives beyond the owners' passing. IMHO stand by for more appeals to purchase ;locomotives to protect their long term future.