RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted July 13, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 13, 2014 I'm asking out of sheer ignorance. Why was Lode Star chosen to be preserved over other Stars? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 It was the last survivor? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Hi OTBL, It was because it was the earliest survivor when they started looking. All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted July 14, 2014 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 14, 2014 Hi OTBL, It was because it was the earliest survivor when they started looking. All the best, Castle Were there any other ones that they considered? Or was it just an instant "this fills the bill"? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted July 14, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 14, 2014 Were there any other ones that they considered? Or was it just an instant "this fills the bill"? Almost certainly as Castle says - it was the earliest built survivor at the time of the 1951 withdrawals (and probably nearest to original condition?). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 838rapid Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 When it was cosmetically restored they removed the outside steam pipes and made it look like it had internal pipes inside the smokebox. When you venture inside the smoke box it's almost empty... Such a shame,but I guess they didn't want to be investing more money on a static loco than needed,trouble is with the best intentions in the world,it will never steam again... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted July 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 15, 2014 When it was cosmetically restored they removed the outside steam pipes and made it look like it had internal pipes inside the smokebox. When you venture inside the smoke box it's almost empty... Such a shame,but I guess they didn't want to be investing more money on a static loco than needed,trouble is with the best intentions in the world,it will never steam again... Look, if we can build a brand new pacific from scratch putting Lode star back into steam with newly manufactured internal steampipes / cylinders / whatever else is needed (I am not very knowledgeable on such things) is perfectly doable all it needs is a bit of money - a good deal less than building said Pacific I would suggest. Whether the custodians of the locomotive feel they wish to go down that route is up to them of course and would no doubt be a decision based on a multitude of different factors - but 'doable' such a prospect certainly is, its not the barrier it was in the past. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 838rapid Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 The NRM seem to believe that the loco still carries original paint from when it was restored in Swindon Works in the 1960's. Fortunately I believe it managed to escape the old Swindon museum before a person who thought they were doing a good thing started slapping paint on various items in there,look at the frames on the dean's goods,he painted them in an almost pink shade of red and also repainted the buffer beams too.... I couldn't believe that this was sanctioned at the time but it was.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted July 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 15, 2014 When it was cosmetically restored they removed the outside steam pipes and made it look like it had internal pipes inside the smokebox. When you venture inside the smoke box it's almost empty... Such a shame,but I guess they didn't want to be investing more money on a static loco than needed,trouble is with the best intentions in the world,it will never steam again... It was seriously considered for return to working order for GW150 but was rejected mainly on account of the state of the tyres which were down to scrapping size. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Hi All, The closest we will get in the foreseeable future to seeing a Star run will be No. 4079 it would seem. Darn close though - only Castle No. 7! As has been said, there is nothing about No. 4003 that could not be put right if a reasonable size wad of cash was thrown at it. That is, curatorial responsibilities and sensibilities not withstanding... It may even be possible to convert it to inside steam pipe. There has been an engineering proposal done for this operation on GWR 2 cylinder machines and was deemed feasible. This was a suggestion for No. 5322 at one point. All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MPR Posted July 17, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2014 2999 Lady of Legend has been fitted with new inside steam pipe cylinder blocks, so it is definitely feasible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MPR Posted July 17, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2014 The NRM seem to believe that the loco still carries original paint from when it was restored in Swindon Works in the 1960's. Fortunately I believe it managed to escape the old Swindon museum before a person who thought they were doing a good thing started slapping paint on various items in there,look at the frames on the dean's goods,he painted them in an almost pink shade of red and also repainted the buffer beams too.... I couldn't believe that this was sanctioned at the time but it was.... 9400 was delivered with "Great Western" on the pannier tanks - you can still see where it was painted out, so I'm not sure that preserving the Last Swindon Scheme is necessarily always the perfect solution. Perhaps the Dean Goods could have the offending layers picked off at some point like the FAA museum's Corsair, to reveal the earlier paint beneath! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 2999 Lady of Legend has been fitted with new inside steam pipe cylinder blocks, so it is definitely feasible. Hi MPR, This isn't what was meant - rather than casting new cylinders, the cylinders on No. 5322 have a lot of life left in them and the idea was to convert the existing block. All the best, Castle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Hadyn Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 The NRM seem to believe that the loco still carries original paint from when it was restored in Swindon Works in the 1960's. Fortunately I believe it managed to escape the old Swindon museum before a person who thought they were doing a good thing started slapping paint on various items in there,look at the frames on the dean's goods,he painted them in an almost pink shade of red and also repainted the buffer beams too.... I couldn't believe that this was sanctioned at the time but it was.... Things were done differently then, when I looked at the Dean last she had 3 shades of green on her in different places and all quite obvious. Other museum locos in other places got similar treatment by enthusiastic staff - such as the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum, which saw "Rough Pup" painted in Woollies maroon from Barmouth one winter. Af for the Star, she does have the restoration paint job still and looked lovely when outside at Tyseley on her way down to Swindon. We don't "seem to believe", we know. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_mcfarlane Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Things were done differently then, when I looked at the Dean last she had 3 shades of green on her in different places and all quite obvious. Other museum locos in other places got similar treatment by enthusiastic staff - such as the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum, which saw "Rough Pup" painted in Woollies maroon from Barmouth one winter. It still can happen - remember the Spanish lady who 'restored' a fresco of Christ a couple of years back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 838rapid Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Trouble is it wasn't that long ago that it happened.... I guess it was 15 years ago... It's such a shame it was attacked with the brush as it was in a worn but cared for condition. Such a shame... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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