Swanage Railway General Discussion

The T9 was also out and about on a test run today and all being well will be on service trains over the weekend. A great home fleet is coming together.

 

Yet still no official announcement stating the Swanage Railway is the T9s new home?

 

Perhaps the NRM are waiting for the dust from the T3 announcement to settle completely before kicking up another s■■■storm?

Anyone else remember when Museum Curator was a nice, quiet, low-profile-public-image sort of position for an academic?

 

Yes have to feel sorry for them now, so much pressure and knowledge in knowing whatever choice of what to get rid from the collection is made, there's ZERO chance it's going to go down well with most folks...

That being said, I'm sure I heard recently the NRM were considering getting rid of yet more items from their collection, whether that be another engine or something else I'm not sure.

 

The wheels of bureaucracy grind slowly. But grind they do!

If you were responsible at the NRM I'm sure the recent criticism would be making you want to be extra sure you have got everything right before making an announcement.

I can see on the webcam that 30120 has indeed been in service today.

 

Well there's only so much space (and funding) available ..... and kit worthy of preservation is still coming out of service on the big railway.

In the spirit of making constructive suggestions, I can think of a certain 2'-0" gauge carriage which would readily find a good home .... after all, it's sometime home line is commemorated at the NRM by a unique nameplate display which takes up zero floor space!

 

If I were the curator I would get rid of the Chinese loco and the bullet train. It’s supposed to be a national, not an international Railway museum . Back to Swanage.... just what is the situation with 257 Squadron? No updates on Southern Locomotive website since December.

 

Is that the loco built at Newton-le-Willows for export to China? I'd have to agree a bullet train seems an odd selection tho' and would love to know the relevance (aside from demonstrating just how far down the tubes British railway technological innovation has gone!).

Can't help you with 257 Squadron I'm afraid.

 

Would like to demur disinictly from the comments above on the Hankow Canton 4-8-4 and the Japanese Bullet train.
Both on the grounds of what ought to be seen in a museum and in terms of reaching out to long term understanding.

Both are actually rather remarkable things of their kinds fit for a world standard premier museum.
Both were given by the countries involved as particular gifts - not ordinary but particular.
Not to treat the gifts with appreciate respect might mean that you lost something..
In fact both have long term implications with what are in effect diplomatic overtones.

Quite a number of Bullet Train vehicles are preserved but the one in the NRM is simply the only outside Japan.
About the time it came to York the original of Stephenson's Rocket went to Japan - where it is cherished that a branch of
the Trevithick family is settled there since the 19th century. The Bullet Train is simply the first modern example of the
high speed electric trains to do sustained long distance runs at over 150 mph on their own dedicated track and to do
so long term, remarkably punctually and in quantity ,both tracks and trains. Quite rightly next to it is the other pioneer,
in a ring of Channel Tunnel lining, a French TVA.

The 4-8-4 was designed here by Kenneth Cantlie for the completion through of the Hankong Hankow Railway whose
civil engineering was considerable and Chinese designed. The father of post Imperial China was Sun Yat Sen deeply
repespectedted across major Chinese divisions having been trained as a doctor by Sir James Cantlie who had also
saved him form being kidnapped to probable murder in London. This gave his son Kenneth the entree to have to do
with the Chinese Railways in the mid 1930s and after the war he was able to directly approach Chou en Lai
but failed to persuade the Chinese to adopt the ultimate developments of the French compound locomotives. (The cause
was lost in the Cultural Revolution.) However, on the strength of this connection the locomotive was donated by the
Chinese, brought here by a shipping concern for free and appreciatively accepted by the NRM. The locomotive was successful
and an excellent design handling trains effectually through the restarts and acceleration on single track.
Kenneth Cantlie also had the perception to see that the Caprotti poppet valve mechanism needed variable exhaust valves
as well as variable admission valves and the management ability to ensure this was put in hand. Due to the war what
became the final development as "British Caprotti" with variable opening on all valves was delayed but the ultimate
performances of Duke of Gloucester speak for themselves and the same man made the difference.

The NRM is part of the Science Museum which is the first ranking national museum covering this field
both the Hankon Canton 4-8-4 and the Bullet Train are of that stature.

 

A fascinating and very informative post. Thank you!

Unfortunately there are many in the enthusiast fraternity to whom the most important things are (a) what colour something is painted and (b) why X loco isn't in traffic/ line isn't extended/line isn't reopened - all, of course, at the massive financial and time cost of somebody else.

Alas trying to get the subtleties of why particular exhibits are there and others aren't across to such folk is, I suspect, an exercise in futility.

 

+6
Actually, I think this description probably fits an echelon of bureaucrats responsible for allocating the funding!

 

[QUOTE="Back to Swanage.... just what is the situation with 257 Squadron? No updates on Southern Locomotive website since December."[/QUOTE]

SLL shareholders will be receiving an update in the next day or two, and the SLL website news will be updated shortly thereafter.

 

Loco with an identity crisis?
Standard 4 in the process of returning to its true identity. Cab side numbers must have been about 10 minutes old as they were still being applied as I walked down the Post Office.

 

Test run day at Swanage it seemed today, 80104 loaded run and 34053 Light engine. With 31806 on the driver experience almost like a mini gala.

 

I see there's an update on the Southern Locomotive website re 257 Squadron:

http://www.southern-locomotives.co.uk/News/news.html

David R

 

I have a few pounds waiting for a dedicated fund for this project to be set up. Last I heard, it was "a couple of years away", but that was more than 5 years ago. Until then, the money's sitting in the building society earning minute sums of interest...

 

A few shots from the snow in Purbeck during the past couple of days. Snow is a rare enough event let alone on two running days, one of which was driver experience.

 

Which was the service train & why did the T9 run with a 33?

Otherwise thank you and I am jealous!

 

Not sure why the 33 was with the T9 on the Dorsetman Sunday lunch train, it was running late and I had nearly given up waiting as my wife had our lunch ready. Apparently at Norden only the 33 ran round and it ran T&T on the way back and for the other return trip. Not knowing this I had not bothered to go and see the second run rather annoyingly.

 

The service sets are in green livery and the dining set is in crimson lake and cream.
with at least 3" of snow and ice on the rails, there were adhesion concerns for the T9 which can be light on its feet due to its 4 big driving wheels and light weight construction. The 33 was put on to provide assistance 'as required' which turned out to be a good decision as even with both units working the 'wheel slip warning light' on the 33 was hard to keep off on the first uphill run out of Swanage.

Not quite 'Snowdrift at bleath gill' but about as close as Swanage ever gets.