Can anyone explain this?

[f#m]

While looking up something unrelated but on the same site I decided to have a look at some pictures just to see what they were and this popped up

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/misc/images/showImage.php?image=cfp115.jpg

 

Is this a Br Mk1 and if so what is it doing the wrong side of the pond?

 

Thanks.

[Edwin_m]

Certainly looks like one and their Wiki entry says:

 

A British coach is a unique part of the collection and is part of the three car train.

 

May be unique as part of their collection but not exactly unique in the world...

[pH]

It's not the only piece of British equipment at Fort Steele - see here.

[edcayton]

The Wiki entry suggests that "Dunrobin"(a lovely little loco)is still in working order. Shurely shome mishtake?

 

Ed

[f#m]

Thats even better than the coach, thank you for posting that Ph

 

Thinking about it this is no more strange than the Nene Valleys none British collection of stock.

[298]

Thats even better than the coach, thank you for posting that Ph

 

Thinking about it this is no more strange than the Nene Valleys none British collection of stock.

 

No, but a darn sight further and more expensive than bringing items to Peterborough from Europe. Does anyone know it's number and how it got there....?

[67A]

While looking up something unrelated but on the same site I decided to have a look at some pictures just to see what they were and this popped up

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/misc/images/showImage.php?image=cfp115.jpg

 

Is this a Br Mk1 and if so what is it doing the wrong side of the pond?

 

Thanks.

 

Possibly left behind after the Flying Scotsman visit in the 70's, only a guess but I think some support vehicles went with Scotsman at the time.

Mike.

[pH]

Is this a Br Mk1 and if so what is it doing the wrong side of the pond?

 

Possibly left behind after the Flying Scotsman visit in the 70's, only a guess but I think some support vehicles went with Scotsman at the time.

According to the 'Canadian Trackside Guide' (1997 edition, the latest I have), it is coach E3733, built at Derby in 1954. It doesn't give any information on how it ended up at Fort Steele.

[dibber25]

Fort Steele, BC, is a major heritage site with a town made up from genuine old buildings moved there from all over BC and rebuilt on the site. It includes a (figure 8, I think) running line of standard gauge track. When it opened, the only working loco they had was the Duke of Sutherland's 'Highland' 0-4-4T Dunrobin and the accompanying saloon. These were acquired by the Provincial Government following display in a Victoria department store and a working appearance at the Expo 86 cavalcade in Vancouver.

They would have needed a coach to run with Dunrobin although they now have a number of converted freightcars as passenger stock and Dunrobin has a buck-eye coupler. I don't think the Mk1 has anything to do with Flying Scotsman (the Scotsman train was LNER baggage cars plus a Pullman and the Devon Belle obo car.) Its more likely that the Mk1 went over in 1986 along with the replica Rocket and the Class 142 railbus unit which ran in Vancouver at the time. (The Canadians were thinking of replacing Budd cars on BC Rail with Class 142s! - presumably only until they actually saw one!)

I think the vehicle in question was a TSO but I looked for any trace of a number and couldn't find one.

When I was there two years ago, Dunrobin was out of service due to problems with the air brake. The museum has Macmillan Bloedel 2-6-2T No 1077, a logging engine which is much more appropriate for the location, and there would seem to be little incentive to get Dunrobin working again, particularly as the Shay shown in your picture is now in for overhaul.

Ironically, the use of a Mk1 requires a British high platform, so the station is the least authentic building in town!

CHRIS LEIGH

[PhilJ W]

I have a copy of the Jan '50 Railway Magazine which has details of Dunrobin and both of the Sutherland coaches. I had been wondering what had become of them as the large Sutherland coach has been preserved but I could find no record of the small coach or the locomotive. There is some interesting snippets in the Railway Magazine article. The locomotive was equipped with a leather upholstered seat over the bunker in case any of the duke's guests wished to avail themselves of a footplate ride, it was found that the larger coach actually rode better when the small coach (which had a guards compartment) was attached to the rear, the large coach had three bedrooms, two 'en suite' and its own central heating system. Whilst in the dukes service both locomotives and stock were painted in 'Sutherland Green', the locomotive with black and yellow lining and the coaches with the upper panels painted white.

[dibber25]

The Mk1 coach is in green and white to match the Sutherland saloon, although the saloon is now stored under cover and the Mk 1 coach runs with an assortment of converted North American equipment.

CHRIS LEIGH

[Gil Janus]

This page doesn't explain how the coach got there, but explains why it is in use.

 

Fort Steele Railroad Equipment

 

The link at the bottom of the page to about the exhibits is broken, so more details are not available.

 

Gil, known as Bill somedays ... B)

[Portchullin Tatty]

The whole of Fort Steele is well worth a visit if you ever go to BC, but please beware it is a big state, so it is not a "pop there for the afternoon" type of place.

 

When I was there, Dunrobin had not been used for a few years and they had been last using it on compressed air rather than steam (I had not perceived this was possible until then). Thus, whilst she was a little dusty, she seemed in pretty good condition - at least externally.

 

The whole story of The Duke of Sutherland and the railways of the far north is well worth looking into. He single handedly built some sections of the line to Wick/Thurso and had a big input into almost all of the rest of the line. To the point where he had the right, up until the 1948 nationalisation, of running Dunrobin across the Highland Railway’s system. There are stories of the authorities at Inverness being completely unaware that he was popping in for a visit until he came puffing over the Ness Bridge and into the platform.

 

Most of the Highland's system was financed to a fair degree by the local gentry - it was known as the "land owner's line" for some time because of it. I guess this is one of the symptoms of being owned/beholden to rich land owners! Something of an anathema to the authorities in Euston one suspects; one also suspects that had no knowledge of it either!

 

 

[Guest Belgian]

From 1950 until 1965 "Dunrobin" was housed in an old engine shed at the old New Romney station, alongside the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch station. I believe it was in the care or even ownership of the light railway company. The Sutherland saloon was housed with it and the locomotive was in working condition when at New Romney and occasionally steamed there. It went to Canada in 1965.

 

JE

(Edited after finding more information on e-bay, where a photo of it at New Romney is being auctioned).

[Portchullin Tatty]

I have just been told that Dunrobin has been bought by the Beamish Museum and is likely to be repatriated.

 

There are rather a lot of photos of both her and the Duke of Sutherland's saloon here.........................http://www.spenbrook.co.uk/dunrobin.html

 

 

[pH]

I have just been told that Dunrobin has been bought by the Beamish Museum and is likely to be repatriated.

Mark, this has been discussed already - see this topic for more.