The Bluebird Project

The latest debacle surrounding Flying Scotsman

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/1014422 ... epair_bill___/

It makes you wonder how much of it is the original record breaking machine (if anything) and considering it only cost £3 million to build Tornado from scratch......

It's very much like Trigger's broom and has had several overhauls in it's lifetime including a major overhaul here in Barrow in the 70's.

This really is a very sad tale. I took a journey on the Flying Scotsman in the 1980s and was able to get on the footplate. A memorable experience.

Does anyone know if the Museum enjoys input from the HLF?

Tornado is a stunning engine, but I will always be sad that it was not named after the great self-taught steam engineer and enthusiast Fred Dibnah.

The identity of a steam loco is usually taken to be the frames - boilers, wheels, etc are all considered consumables and swapped as and when. No sense in keeping a finished chassis waiting for its original boiler when you have a completed boiler of the same type waiting for its original chassis, combine the best bits and get it back out earning money.

Personally I think they should have put Scotsman back together and left her in the museum for a while. We already have an unstreamlined LNER pacific on the main line in the form of Tornado, and working A4s. I'd have spent the money on getting their streamlined Duchess class working again. Nobody has seen one of those running for the best part of 70 years and it'd have the same "wow factor" once the photos hit the press. The replica streamlined casing was built to fit within the NR loading gauge and it has been hauled over the main line before now.

I can't help thinking that the LOOF mindset is partly responsible for this mess. There are some locos which the NRM have said will never steam again as they're exactly as BR last overhauled them. Scotsman meanwhile has had so many overhauls and repairs that a complete rebuild probably won't lose any more originality, and is therefore supported.

Steaming the Duchess again or even Mallard for its record anniversary would be money better spent.

Well, it could have been glamourised somewhat by using his full honorary title of Dr Fred Dibnah! I just think an opportunity was missed to mark the achievements of a unique and great man. His yard and workshop in Radcliffe Road, Bolton are open to visitors and worth a visit. See www.freddibnahheritagecentre.co.uk.

Mallard resto's a hot topic at the moment. I live about 1/2 mile walk along the railway tracks from the Museum at Shildon, so get to have an occasional wander down and chat with the lads down there. When Mallard was in I asked the question, and the answer was a definite "no" - she's to remain as she his for now, with no LOOF, as the Gresley,Bittern and Union and were out there for people to see running, so they wanted to keep Mallard. No can do... Since then I've seen a load of reports about getting it running for the anniversary of the record etc, but I think it'll be a long time from what I was told of the condition of the boiler. Duchess has been in Shildon for a while looking resplendent. I'm due another wander down and cuppa, I need to confirm arrangements for getting our Steampunk wedding photo's taken in there!

In case anybody missed it, It's 75 years today since Mallard got the record for steam locomotives which still stands

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23158002

Piston Broke wrote:In case anybody missed it, It's 75 years today since Mallard got the record for steam locomotives which still stands

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23158002

Not wishing to denigrate this magnificent locomotive but I have always felt that it was cheating a bit to claim a transient peak speed, observed whilst travelling downhill, as a new record when the previous (German-held) record was only 1.5 mph slower but was sustained for a considerable distance on the level.

mtskull wrote:

Piston Broke wrote:In case anybody missed it, It's 75 years today since Mallard got the record for steam locomotives which still stands

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23158002

Not wishing to denigrate this magnificent locomotive but I have always felt that it was cheating a bit to claim a transient peak speed, observed whilst travelling downhill, as a new record when the previous (German-held) record was only 1.5 mph slower but was sustained for a considerable distance on the level.

Then don't! Simple's
Novie