B17 61600 at mystery location

[BJamieson]

See http://www.railbrit.co.uk/notesandqueri ... resolved=0
and scroll down to the last photograph - any suggestions?

Bill

[stembok]

61600 did indeed reportedly cause something a a stir amongst the local enthusiast population by arriving at Darlington in the summer of 1958, but a report in T I at the time seems to suggest that it had been consigned there by mistake and was later sent on to Doncaster to be scrapped. This also happened I believe with another B17 the following year and also with other locos ocasionally consigned to the wrong works, perhaps because pre-war Darlington had been associated with the class. I myself on hearing the news of 61600 mounted my trusty Triumph Palm Beach and furiously pedalled the nine miles, scouring shed and work's areas, but alas too late! The area in the photo looks familiar as the neighbourhood of the ' dead line' or work's line at the north end of 51A, though I can't really remember the building to the right of the locomotive .It was, however, a long time ago.

[Pyewipe Junction]

Probably a daft question, but why did it matter where 61600 was scrapped?

Dieselisation of East Anglia was well under way by 1958 and the 'Sandies' had gone by 1960, so it wasn't as if it was necessary to salvage any parts from 61600.

[stembok]

Pyewipe Junction: Good point. It could be argued -wrongly in my view - that it does not matter one jot in the scheme of things whether 61600 was dismantled at Darlington or Doncaster. The same question might well apply to most of the material on this site.
So why? A hobby and a refuge from the frenetic pace of everyday life, nostalgia for the past, curiousity for its own sake, sharing interests and experiences, or agreeing or sometimes disagreeing with others of the same interest. Personal likes and dislikes on the LNER and general railway scene. All are possible reasons for why we are here.

[giner]

And, in agreement with one of the above clauses, I agree.

[Pyewipe Junction]

Sorry stembok and giner, I obviously didn't make myself clear.

My question was why it mattered to British Railways where 61600 was scrapped.

As far as the minutiae of railway operations are concerend, I'm as bad as the rest of you!

[giner]

Sorry stembok and giner, I obviously didn't make myself clear.

My question was why it mattered to British Railways where 61600 was scrapped.

As far as the minutiae of railway operations are concerend, I'm as bad as the rest of you!

Thank goodness for that. I was getting a bit worried.

[BJamieson]

My apologies, but the location of the photograph I was referring to has changed since my original post - http://www.railbrit.co.uk/notesandqueri ... resolved=0
and type 25149 in the 'search' box.

Bill

[stembok]

Pyewipe Junction: No apology necessary, mind you you had me worried for a moment. I thought you might be going over to the dark side!

[Flamingo]

Sorry stembok and giner, I obviously didn't make myself clear.

My question was why it mattered to British Railways where 61600 was scrapped.

As far as the minutiae of railway operations are concerend, I'm as bad as the rest of you!

I'd hazard a guess that why and where 61600 was scrapped mattered to BR had something to do either with accountancy or with keeping the local workforce happy and fully occupied. Even in the 1950s the bean counters were behind most BR decisions somewhere ( perhaps less obvious than now though ), while railway labour relations of the time were certainly not always bright and serene.

As a matter of interest where were the very early B17 withdrawals broken up? Two engines went in 1953 I think - both of them ones I remember seeing on Cambridge Buffet Expresses.

[manna]

Good point Flamingo, I've also wondered why the B17's were herded to the scrapyard so early were they that bad a loco

[stembok]

Trains Ilustrated December,1958 p 681.Also B17 No. 61600 was not broken up at Darlington as suggested in September; it travelled south to Doncaster and was broken up there in late October

. 61600 was apparently sent to Darlington by mistake. This was later rectified, as mentioned in my previous post.

[BJamieson]

In earlier years I would have thought there was some point in assigning locos to specific works for scrapping in order to balance workloads but by 1958, with dmus driving 4-4-0s and passenger tanks (in particular) in droves to the scrapyard, there would have been more than enough cutting-up work to go round. Or perhaps this is the answer, that Darlington works was already inundated with A8s, D20s etc. and simply couldn't cope with an unexpected arrival.

Bill

[Bill Bedford]

I've also wondered why the B17's were herded to the scrapyard so early were they that bad a loco

B17s were a class that even the fitters disliked. They vibrated so much that many of the frame bolts distorted had had to be cut off with a chisel.

[manna]

It seems that North British steam loco's were as bad as there diesels 30 years later, how did they last so long.