Got to see Tornado yesterday

[Rob S]

There is, I gather, a school of thought that says for the money they spent building Tornado from new, they could have restored more than one old loco.

Would they have managed to raise the money if the project was to restore an old loco? To bring to life a class that is extinct....there was no knackered A1 sitting in a scrapyard...is a lot more inspiring than restoring get another Hall or A4 or Spamcan.

 

[Arch]

I did say, I'm not sure where I stand on the matter, I was just quoting things I'd heard.

At the end of the day, like any historic recreation, it's not really important, compared to life and death. There is room for recreations, if they are honest about what they are.

I've been thinking about what I'd do with that kind of money to spend on a steam project. I don't know where I'd start.

That's a no-brainer:

How much fun could you have with a Maxim flyer

 

[Arch]

I've always fancied the idea of restoring a Welsh mountainside quarry, complete with inclined planes, engine houses and Hunslets chuffing along a cliff edge.

I wasn't having a dig at you by the way.

I know, I was just making the point...

I think I'd quite like a steam yacht. There are some lovely ones in the Windermere museum. Some of them had a little auxilary boiler for making tea.

 

[domd1979]

Would they have managed to raise the money if the project was to restore an old loco?

Restoring and maintaining steam locos isn't a cheap business either.... Once a machine is back in steam, you need to fund a boiler overhaul every 10 years which seem to cost in the order of £200 - £300k. There's also something of a skills/labour shortage in railway preservation, as well as cash. Quite a few locos around the place only have a couple of people working on them, so it takes a very long time to get things done. Diesel preservation is similar, although you're not faced with £300k to find every 10 years, I suspect a lot of machines will go by the wayside when something goes pop as a lot of owners haven't got the cash / spares / time to fix any serious problems. There's also a big shortage of shed space to keep stuff inside, long term having locos and other rolling stock stored outside doesn't do them much good.

 

[Rob S]

Restoring and maintaining steam locos isn't a cheap business either.

Well yes, that's my point....god knows how much Flying Scotsman will cost to restore

 

[Arch]

Well yes, that's my point....god knows how much Flying Scotsman will cost to restore

I think Scotsman is cursed, she's bankrupted every owner - she was bought for the nation and hey ho, the credit crunch!

Another interesting question there - how much of the original loco is left? Last time I was in the NRM, there were the wheels and and frame and that was pretty much it. And yet the general public have some sort of great attachment to her, just one of her kind, and not a terribly reliable one at that...

 

[domd1979]

Another interesting question there - how much of the original loco is left? Last time I was in the NRM, there were the wheels and and frame and that was pretty much it.

A bit like Trigger's broom....!!