I think Pete Waterman (Stock, Aitken &...) was in the frame for a while as a potential saviour. Trains don't float my boat much but it was strangely pleasing to see the old dear being restored while I was dragged round the York Railway museum at the end of June. You can look down on the workshops and see what's going on. Looks like the most thorough restoration imaginable, seems right for a national treasure, took some snaps, lots of work to be done:
She'll look lovely, till she blows another boiler. At least the York museum has all of their own workshops and engineers who can do the work.
The York Museum does that kind of strip down every few years for any train they have working. For something like the Scot that is a normal service. Talk about ahigh maintenance girlfriend Wish i coudl see her, but since the West Coast mainline went to pendulino tracks she'll never run here any more.
The only reason they, or any other operator, strips down the boilers on running trains is the high possibility of a fault causing an explosion/disaster on a complex pressurised vessel, there are laws on regular inspection/maintenance etc. that lead to the biggest expense of running the things. I don't think that the total 'rolls royce' strip-down rebuild above is exactly the norm. I find the 'pretty' trains, except for Mallard, quite dull, but that austerity wartime one (don't know the name, beautiful plain black thing?? Q1??) and the German equivalent have a certain something.
God I love the Mallard. Those sleek Art Deco lines, gorgeous. I think the problem with the Scot id that she is one of the fastest steam trains ever, and as such her boiler takes a hell of a hammering, as does all of her other components. She was built purely to be the fastest, and at a time when the components and repairs were easy. Nowadays this is not the case. Thats why Waterman and all the other buyers have sold her on PDQ. She just needs so much major repair and maintenance to keep her going. York were her last hope.
I find the 'pretty' trains, except for Mallard, quite dull, but that austerity wartime one (don't know the name, beautiful plain black thing?? Q1??) and the German equivalent have a certain something. Bluebell Railway - Locomotives formerly based on the Bluebell You was right, was that a guess? Bulleid Austerity, No.C1 Class: Q1 Keep your Flying Scotsman we got to 100mph first on the GWR. GWR 3700 Class no. 3440 "City of Truro" - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You was right, was that a guess? Bulleid Austerity, No.C1 Class: Q1 More a successful glimmering of my rather damaged memory!. Looked the Q1 over on my June visit, fantastic thing stripped to the bone of all gear and overcomplications for wartime production, next to her shiny compatriots in the museum she looked remarkably crude, but also much more interesting. From my Brother and Dad's comments Bulleid sounds like a rather entertaining bloke in the 'loony/genius' mould. What's the German austerity one then? Looked it up it seems it's the 'Class 52' i'm thinking of. DRG Class 52 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 6100 built!
What's the German austerity one then? Looked it up it seems it's the 'Class 52' i'm thinking of. DRG Class 52 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 6100 built! If you want to see one in the UK, look here. Not a runner though. Nene Valley Railway - Rolling Stock
I think Pete Waterman (Stock, Aitken &...) was in the frame for a while as a potential saviour. Pete Waterman did own the Scotsman recently, it was he had it painted in its BR livery, as he said that is how he remembered it when he was a kid. He said he got so much stick over that he was glad to sell it
I find the 'pretty' trains, except for Mallard, quite dull, but that austerity wartime one (don't know the name, beautiful plain black thing?? Q1??) and the German equivalent have a certain something. They're like living creatures. Breathing, venting ) ), dribbling... Like an old truck or aeroplane or any old working "beast", they also smell right!
Flying Scotsman running again today. Raise the flags and sound the trumpets.......but, whilst I'm sure the restoration is historically perfect (possibly I've just answered my own question), what on earth possessed them to use a livery that is familiar to almost no-one and certainly not a run of the mill member of the general public like me? Possibly simplistic, but wouldn't it have been better to restore it to the 4472 configuration? They've done the equivalent of removing the streamlining from Mallard! 4472 would have been far more iconic than 60103 with smoke deflectors and, in my mind, a weird (non LNER) colour scheme. Although York is a long way from where I live, I now have no intention of visiting because it now looks just like any other old train to me! Would a train buff like to explain?
SDP its an anachronistic livery anyway as its not historically perfect. It is the livery until trials are finished then she'll be entering a more familiar scheme, but the use of double chimney and deflectors is a touchy point. I will not even bother getting into the ol' historical accuracy argument about steam locos as you no doubt know its a circular discussion, a mate who is a fireman and I waste many hours on this sort of waffle. Personally its worth going to the bookies and placing a bet on when (and what) goes bang. I am saddened that the tremendously botched, undercosted and mismanaged restoration is not being discussed - but hey ho!
Looks like a can of worms is gradually opening! I know it's a delicate subject, but York needs to bring in the visitors just like any other Museum and I'm pretty sure lots of people will say "oh....is that it?.....doesn't look at all like my old Hornby train set.....or when it was on Thomas the Tank Engine.....what's those funny plates around the chimney for?.....". Far better to have done it as 4472. This version is a total anticlimax. Disappointing and with damage already done.
You didn't see her scattered in pieces around the workshops in December last year... Green Arrow looked resplendent, Scotsman was just in teeny bits (bar the boiler). Wait and see her mainline unveiling. These are only running tests that will go on for quite some time.
....so what have I missed? What will be different for her 'mainline unveiling'? A huge amount of work has clearly been done and credit where credit is due but.........what is going on?