Hawkerhellfire

Unusual question, I believe in both the IRRS Journal and the RPSI Journal Five foot three there was a retelling of a story regarding the preserved J-15 184 and her use in the running of an unofficial race between the GSWR and DSER for the contract to run cattle trains to Dublin. I think the DSER engine was 14. Would anyone know what copy of these journals the story appears in as I would quite like to reread it. Thanks very much.

No, it's the original(or at least an Inchicore built one). You may be thinking of 90 as she had a new boiler built by the Severn Valley.

5Ts boiler as I've read has a crack in the throatplate. Giving this combined with the advanced age of the boiler it's probably well passed saving. Any restoration to running of the railway has to factor in a new boiler, and then you're throwing an extra quarter of a million onto the bill. You won't get much change from a million to restore that line.

I've seen matchsticks used to excellent effect in 00 to represent sod turf. Perhaps small lengths of lighting up wood darkened with wood stain? If its milled peat you want you'd best just experiment with some dirt from the garden.

The railway is at such an advanced state of decay it would be better to try and salvage 5T and the Ruston rather than waste resources on anything else. The line requires complete reballasting and resleepering which in materials now would reach conservately a quarter of a million to put halfway right, and that's with 20 plus active and enthusiastic volunteers working hard. Double the cost if you do it commercially. On top of that the window for acquiring a BNM loco suitable for hauling the carriages(which are in a questionable condition) is rapidly closing. Giving council disinterest/ineptitude it'll never work out. If it was in England or Wales yeah it's salvagable(indeed it would have never have gotten to that state) but here, nah.

This Channel on Youtube is excellent, its a chap who used LGB trains to kit bash his way to an extensive Garden railway. Well worth a look.

That's very advanced from the last time I saw a photo of it! Just a pile of bits and a bit of bodywork. Fair play to them. New build steam gets a lot of attention but a fair few diesels got the chop too and had no survivors. I wonder if there are enough madmen out there to attempt a Fell Diesel new build!

Described in "A Decade of Steam on CIE in the 1950s" Excellent book from the enginemans perspective. The same men write with adoration of the comparatively ancient "F2" 2-4-2 No 433 so they weren't anti steam.

850 had a fair bit more wrong with her than a tendency to roll. Poor steaming and and a habit running hot slidebars and bearings from memory. She was a handsome engine though. I was only thinking of 850 yesterday and her accident running into a turntable pit. Does a picture exist of that event?