The LNER Encyclopedia

I was thinking the other day that this forum, if anywhere, should have a section where we could see where all the preserved locos and rolling stock are to be found and in what condition at the present time. It could include loco movements and charter trains being hauled etc.

For example, even though I live nearby, I didn't realise that a B1 had been resident on the Shackerstone Railway until recently, and I think it may have moved on now. I never knew that the B12 had a spell on the SVR some years ago, etc, etc.

Not everyone can justify a regular subscription to the railway press and they do not cover everything anyway.

Why not have a thread on each loco - there aren't that many LNER locos preserved sadly, so we're not talking too many. This thread could be updated when anyone had any news on that loco......

What do you reckon? That might alter the bias back to full size?

Yes, that seems like a good idea.

I would like to see a similar section devoted to unusual workings of locomotives pre-1965, gleaned from contemporary reports and photographs; although I am not quite sure how this would be organised to prevent it becoming unwieldy.

re. preserved locos & stock: I'm thinking about it. It would have to be tied to the existing loco pages.

Rolling stock would be more difficult - coal hoppers, wagons, coaches, etc. I don't know of a definitive list, and examples do keep turning up on sidings.

re. pre-preservation: One idea that keeps getting floated is my database idea. Such information could be added to that. It needs time to develop it, and it would need a lot of people to add the information to make it useful.
The idea was that each loco would have a series of database "tags". These could include various notes (build, rebuild, new boiler, accident, photographed@, etc). So you'd pull up the history and it would list out all the tags. Such a system could also include photos.


Richard

There is a database

http://www.uklocos.com/preservedrailway ... /index.asp


Something just for LNER and its pre group companies would be excellent .

Carriage and wagon databases can be found here
http://www.vintagecarriagestrust.org/surveystatus.asp

mick b wrote:There is a database

http://www.uklocos.com/preservedrailway ... /index.asp


Something just for LNER and its pre group companies would be excellent .

Thanks for the link Mick - just had a look at the B12 record which hasn't been updated since the loco's return to steam. Ok that's only in the last month but if you were planning a trip, I don't think the site would necessarily be that helpful. There's also no date in the individual record to state when it was last updated.

With a thread per loco on this forum, the posting system would clearly show how old or new the news was.

...but I doubt many (if any) of the threads will be up to date enough to include the month's excursions. Somebody has to enter all that stuff and keep on top of it.

Richard

Fair comment Richard, but what if those willing were to "adopt a loco" and make it their business to keep up-to-date?

It may be that amongst our membership we already have those who volunteer at preserved railways, and for whom it would be little effort?

Anyone visiting could update the unique "preserved locos" thread with photos, news hot off the press etc.

The whole thing could be quite informal with no recriminations if info was old because the reader only needs to look at the last posting date to see just how up-to-date the news was.

I'm game if others are.......

As far as the autocar is concerned, I'm happy to keep you up to date with developments. Looking ahead, when it and the autocoach are finished, there will be times when it goes off visiting, we'd announce this anyway, probably on our web-site. I could post on here as well...

I thought charter train times and engines are covered by infosteam, though that site is not as comprehensive as it used to be.

Individual lines may post details on their locos e.g. http://www.embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk/locos.html though I appreciate it's not universal and doesn't focus just on the LNER, constituents and successors.