SVR Loco Newsy News / discussions

This post is the absolute nail on the head for me. When the SVR is appealing for donations to save the SVR (to which I have contributed)they need to consider what 'the SVR' means. For me 'the SVR' included 45110 - running or otherwise. 45110 is both historic and also relatively true to its late BR condition - that won't be the case if its restored for modern day mainline running. I honestly would prefer to see it static than leaving the SVR but it seems the company knew there would be resistance so did the deal anyway behind closed doors.

Leaves a bad taste in my mouth and doesnt warm me to the railway at all.

 

I'd be interested to know how the volunteers at the SVR feel about this rather sudden sale. Reading through the posts, the most forthright opinions have come from those who aren't active volunteers on the railway.

Personally as an "armchair" member, I feel somewhat ambivalent. On the one hand, this sale makes it more likely that we will see 45110 in action in the next few years and at the same time, provide some desperately-needed cash to enable the railway to survive, but on the other, the sale seems to have been rushed through with very little consultation of the wider membership - and 45110 is no ordinary "Black Five" as we all know thanks to its role in 1T57. For this reason, if there was no likelihood of it being overhauled, surely some space could have been created to make it the star exhibit in the Engine House.

 

@LMS2968 @Fred Kerr 600 was transferred to SVR(H) ownership in 2008 and last steamed in 1999, therefore has never steamed under SVR ownership.

 

All this emotion about the sale of this locomotive - where have all these people been? It hasn't steamed for over 10 years and for the last 5 years has been in the carriage shed totally hidden from public. There hasn't been an outcry over not being able to see it in that time and no clamber to raise the at least £500k for it's overhaul. Seems to me this 'outrage' is a little OTT and perhaps vindicates the secrecy?
This is a commercial decision for the railway which is need of the cash and will hopefully lead to a better future for the locomotive. For me it's win win. People are only temporary custodians of locos, ultimately they should go where they have the best future, clearly tucked away in a carriage shed is not ideal. I can see many similarities to the T3 here, which we are all now celebrating.

 

Possibly, but a bit of nit-picking, to be honest. The engines were on the SVR and, like all others, considered to be SVR engines. At that time the SVR owned no engines itself (I don't think). There was never any likelihood of the army reclaiming 600 after its arrival on SVR metals. I have to say that your original post was open to easy misunderstanding to the effect that 5110 had had only one ticket on the SVR and 600 not even that..

 

I said 45110 had only been in service 10 years since 1980, which is the truth!

 

That’s a long while out of traffic. A shame considering its place in British railway history.

 

The whole hobby is founded on emotion and enthusiasm - without that you have a set of truncated branch lines, most going from nowhere to nowhere which weren't viable when they were closed and aren't viable in their own right now. Maybe the SVR should forget about using steam and 2000bhp+ diesels and just use that Parry People carrier instead?

 

It's a Black Five for goodness sake. It hardly has rarity value. They are pretty run of the mill to heritage railways similar to Buckets or Class 47s.

The Fifteen Guinea Special argument is at tenuous given the train never visited the SVR line and could therefore be argued to represent steam on any part of the network.

 

The SVR means different things to different people, at its heart it is a GWR branchline, it certainly isn't natural territory for an LMS 5 which brought down the curtain of BR steam in the North West.
45110 ran a number of mainline trips in the late 90s / early 00s. I remember photographing it at Shrewsbury as a teenager. It would 'only' require fitment of TPWS to be able to run again on the mainline. It had a fairly significant overhaul previously, so not sure it is any more original than other BR locos on the railway.
Sorry, but a locomotive tucked away in a shed does nothing for me, locos need to live and breathe - 45407, 45212 and 44932 were all similarly around at the end of steam and for me represent what a BR black 5 is and can do. I hope 45110 joins them it the not so distant future. Many more people would then also learn about it's claim to fame.

 

TPWS, OTMR, GSM-R, plus ERTMS shortly. Not a cheap list.

 

Would they though?
If the loco was restored to mainline condition and was used on railtours around the country, how would Joe Soap and his wife taking a "choo choo train" over the S&C learn anything about the loco's history?

 

Why would it need ERTMS? We are seriously decades away from that being everywhere. I read the other day they wanted it on all high speed mainlines by 2010! Yet here we are 13 years on from that and it is still only on the Cambrian.

 

Well the majority of railtours I travel on have a nice brochure produced by the promoter that tells me all about the loco on the train?
Certainly more than anyone is going to learn about it locked in a shed with no public access!

 

But one that would be factored into the purchase cost if that is their intention. It's not cheap to buy a Black 5!!

 

In the rail tour publicity.

 

It’s easy 55years on to dismiss how important the 15 guinea special was! Certainly no one would have had any idea at the time that 45110 would become ‘just a Black 5’ such was its place in hauling Britain’s last steam hauled train. When the train passed the crowds at Ais Gill everyone believed that that was it...the end of standard gauge steam! Of course the other thing that attracted such infamy was the cost of the tickets which at that time was beyond the reach of most ordinary people and created a lot of publicity for BR. When the loco arrived at the SVR it was a major coup and great publicity for the railway which was further enhanced when it was named RAF Biggin Hill at Hampton Loade in the presence of the RAF band. The loco truly was the SVRs flagship engine of the early days and I think this is why the departure of the loco is such a big deal to a majority of older members. It’s a great shame the membership wasn’t given the chance to raise funds to buy the loco to keep her on the railway but I suppose if the railway needs fast ready cash for whatever reason that option wasn’t considered.