All A4s for the last time 19-02-14

[Brown Jack]

Hi,

Went to have a last look at all A4s together at Shildon, along with a few hundred more.

Photo's can be viewed here, http://trev11.zenfolio.com/p308507609

Trev

[2392]

Hi folks

and here's my selection of photos' of the 6 taken on Friday 21/2/14. You'll notice that the first of the two shots of the corridor tenders shows it has a wopping great rust[?] hole in the top section of the vestubile coupled to Dominon of Canada, the other being the tender coupled to Bittern. As for the semi derilict looking coach seen through the window it is I'm lead to believe one of the Midland Railways steam railmotors, that just like the Great Western ones was converted, in this case to an "officers" saloon rather than normal coach. It's also so tragic to see the state that the ECJS/GN/LNER BG 109 has fallen into or as it is now 10, what with the varnish have blown.

So here goes; https://www.dropbox.com/sc/9crk9u6gqzzsk3o/4zmr8bizHm

[2512silverfox]

As the one who masterminded the refurbishment of the Royal Train BG in 1976 I have to agree that it is indeed now in a sorry state. The Doncaster finish applied in 1976 was exactly as per the original ECJS spec including 13 coats of varnish etc, so it should not have gone like this unless it has been left out in inclement weather without protection for quite a long time.

A great pity and not a good advert for the current NRM preservation team.

[jwealleans]

Video of 4489 now back in North America here.

[jwealleans]

60008 returning to Green Bay here.

[giner]

The question now is what are the intentions of the two North American museums for the two A4s. The Montreal one has a nice little feature on their website, but the Wisconsin museum makes no mention of DDE on theirs. Stay tuned, I guess.

[owd sweedy]

Stay tuned indeed giner. Due to various delays they have yet to arrive in Montreal!
4489 is destined for a prize spot in the Angus pavilion and the converted box car with the hook and buffers
is ready for moving her around the yard. I will keep you posted as events unfold.

Silverfox, there is not a "whopping great rust hole" on top of the corridor connector.
There were a few insignificant rust blisters on the thin streamline casing but that was all.
After a shoddy paint job at Crewe in 1967 (one coat of primer and one top coat gloss!), she faired better for 46 years under cover
than that Royal Train BG, seems to have, and that had the benefit of a proper "Doncaster" paint job.

Cheers
Owd Sweedy

[giner]

Thanks for that, OS. As you know, Montreal is a bit more than down the road for me - not that it's exactly next door to you either . I'm just wondering whether either museum will put them 'in steam' and give them a run occasionally. Cheers, Giner.

[lar1976]

I think the chances of seeing them in steam are similar to a full Silver Jubilee set running behind silver Link running at 100 in 2015! Come on the NRM just helped them out by doing them up, they couldn't do that themselves so they probably wouldn't dare risk an overhaul to steaming standards.

[giner]

Well, one can only hope, I suppose. Have a good 'un.

[owd sweedy]

Thanks for that, OS. As you know, Montreal is a bit more than down the road for me - not that it's exactly next door to you either . I'm just wondering whether either museum will put them 'in steam' and give them a run occasionally. Cheers, Giner.

Hi giner, its a 2hr drive for me, but a 4 1/2 hour flight for you!!
I can't speak for Green Bay's "Dwight D Eisenhower", but as for steaming 4489, wonderful as that would be, it is not going to happen any time soon.
Exporail is a small, undermanned and totally underfunded museum. It gets a fraction (1/32th) of the annual income that the NRM at York receives. All the hands on work, maintenance, restoration, etc is done in a small workshop by a handful of dedicated volunteers and they are swamped by a huge backlog of work that a collection this size entails. There is no lottery fund over here and little Federal government support, that is why (unlike York), you have to pay to go in. But, perhaps more to the point, they are not a "preserved railway" and have no mandate, or facilities to restore anything to steam. The final reason though is that unlike the UK, there would be nowhere to run it and nothing for it to pull. As you know, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific own all the mainlines in Canada and there is no way some antiquated coal burning steam loco, with no roller bearing, would be allowed to run on their trackage, not even towed dead!

I am delighted that Mallard 75 was such a fantastic success, that all attendance records for visitors were broken, that the NRM made money, won all sorts of awards, and garnered enormous international media exposure, the sort of advertising you can't buy, and that our locomotive played a major part in it.
I am also pleased that Steve Davis, whose original vision, drive and enthusiasm was behind Mallard 75, was, at the end of the day, completely vindicated by its runaway success. I doubt there will ever be anything like it again.

Cheers,
Owd Sweedy.

[giner]

Thanks again, OS, for the info on the museum. You're right, it's just not going to happen. I'd better take off my rose coloured specs now.

Hey, how about them Habs, eh?

All the best, Giner.

[giner]

Les Habs. Spoke too soon.

[mr B]

DOC home safe and sound look in top shots http://www.railpictures.net

484317-78.jpg (9.06 KiB) Viewed 7377 times

mr B

[owd sweedy]

A long day for all involved, but the unloading and switching all went as planned. It was great to finally get to see the results of all the hard work that went into D of C's makeover at Shildon, she really does look superb.
A couple of pics, one of the "buffer car"in action as the GP9 switches the tender. The buffer car worked perfectly ensuring safe shunting around the yard.
Two Cherry Pickers with platforms for yard crew, were hired for the day, to help with lifting the tarpaulins off. This to make sure there was no scratching of the beautiful paintwork.
The other photo shows her later in the day, waiting to be put away for the night. It is planned to put her into the Angus Pavilion on the 14th June, all being well and then to have a "welcome home" celebration after that.
Cheers
Owd Sweedy

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