Restoration candidates

[NW Mailing List]

>From Richard Hood

It has cost Southern Locomotives Ltd  £750,000 ($ 1.2m) to restore Battle
of Britain class 4-6-2 Sir Keith Park.  Not a large engine by US standards
and from a class that SLL are experience, owning 4 others.  England has
many specialist restores of steam engines where the US unfortunatley has
few.  I would think to restore a Y6 to running condition would cost in
excess of $3m.  If new cast frames were required it may not be possible
even at any price.  We have a number of foundary's currently capable of
casting loco cylinders and wheels., but the frames for later Y's are
someting else.

Merry Christmas,
Richard Hood, England


On 21 December 2013 20:25, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:


> Everything that has been said about restoring locomotives is correct, it

> costs a lot of money and there are a lot of inspections to go through.

> If you watch American Restoration on the History channel, when someone

> brings in a pedal car for restoration, it costs almost $5000 to restore the

> piece and it only cost $50

> new.  Talk to anyone that restores old cars, buying the car is the

> cheapest part the balance of the restoration costs the most money, which

> you normally never recover when you sell it.

> Even those of us that buy old models to restore and resell never make a

> lot of money, I know I have never do so, we do it for the love of the

> hobby.  So restoring

> locomotives is no different, just a lot larger and you need bigger

> equipment.

>

> Kurt S. Kramke

>

>

> On 12/21/13, NW Mailing List wrote:

>

> I agree with Mr. Miller on signing posts. If you can't sign it, don't post

> it.

>

> I also agree about the monumental undertaking of restoring such

> massive machines. EVERYTHING on the railroad is heavy, and hard to

> work on. It was made that way because the railroad is such a brutal

> environment for the machines and men and women who work on it. It has

> to be built tough and beyond durable. That in itself makes for a more

> complex restoration. This is not to mention the costs, which he also

> expounded on a bit. That doesn't include the unexpected things that

> always seem to come up when restoring rail equipment, which also add

> to the time and costs.

>

> I encourage anyone who wants to be part of the solution. Many folks,

> such as myself, belong to preservation groups, historical societies,

> etc., and these groups are always short handed when it comes to

> finding help with manpower and funds. We all can always use more

> help. So please, join a group, volunteer your time and skills, and

> lend a hand.

>

> Ben Blevins

> signal maintainer and railroad preservationist

>

>

> On 12/19/13, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

> > Thanks for your insight Ken.

> >

> > I've supported restoration projects but never been able to commit the

> long

> > term enough time to work on one. I have every admiration for the many

> 000s

> > who do - including one friend from University who has done it since

> > schooldays - so that's probably 40+ years. Others I knew also made a

> > life-time commitment - to the Waterways Recovery Group who re-build whole

> > canals! As a narrowboat skipper (volunteer - that takes a fair bit of

> time)

> > and a trail walker I appreciate that work as much as steam locomotive or

> > traditional narrowboat restorers.

> >

> >

> > I thought I'd try and find some data on the preservation scene from the

> UK.

> >

> > There are many hundreds of ex British Railways locomotives, ex industrial

> > locomotives, imported

> > locomotives, locomotives withdrawn from service before the formation of

> > BR in 1948 and increasingly ‘new build’ locomotives (e.g. Tornado, and

> now

> > the new P2 locomotive 'Prince of Wales') - many restored to working

> order,

> > others awaiting restoration, some conserved against the day when

> resources

> > (people and cash) may be available to work on, and others that have been

> > cosmetically restored. Some, though not now 4472 Flying Scotsman despite

> the

> > millions it is costing, will likely never steam again even on a

> > preserved/private line. And J611 - which I will support once they sort

> out a

> > tax efficient channel for donations from the UK - is going to take some

> > financing - for the running costs, servicing etc., etc.

> >

> >

> > There are apparently a total of 387 ex ‘BR’ locomotives operating or

> > awaiting restoration based at over 115 heritage railway centres/preserved

> > lines and the National Railway Museum (York) and Locomotion (Shildon) -

> and

> > that's what has survived (some after decades of rusting in breaker's

> yards)

> > from the around 20000 steam locomotives that British Railways operated at

> > nationalisation in 1948.

> >

> > Many of the locomotives are certified for mainline running, and

> increasingly

> > preserved lines are being re-connected to the main network.

> >

> >

> > An estimated 18,500 volunteer supporters devote their own time and money

> to

> > running, maintaining or developing their railway - together with an

> employed

> > workforce - and these operate throughout the United Kingdom today with no

> > direct financial support from central or local government.

> >

> > Heritage railways make a major contribution to the economies of the areas

> > they serve both in terms of attracting tourism and of substantial

> spending

> > on local services. Research - though limited in scope - undertaken for a

> > number of railways suggests a mean benefit to the local economy of around

> > 2.7 times the railway’s turnover. In aggregate, this would suggest that

> the

> > economic benefit nationally is just under £250m.

> >

> > Add to that the major diesel, diesel-electric, electric and other

> > preservation groups, the rail charter and tour industry

> ....................

> > you've got a significant industry on top of the main freight and

> passenger

> > operators.

> >

> > Living history is invariably more attractive than static and cold

> displays

> > ....... and we should be extremely thankful for those who have made this

> > possible, and continue to do so, both the massive effort and commitment

> that

> > provides live steam and also those well-cared for and occasionally not so

> > well-cared for colder set-ups.

> >

> > Dominic

> > London

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > I walked 12 miles for the Pirate Castle for the 4th time on June 22nd -

> > please help bysponsoring me

> >

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