GEC Day Out Part 1: LNWR of Crewe...
Hi all! Today I was off on a coach trip with the GEC Model Engineering Society. Firstly, I make no apologies for the length of this 2-part post!The destination was Crewe and this is the first of two post's documenting the day. After boarding the coach at 9am sharp at the GEC site it was time to get started on the journey. This would take us up one of the country's busiest roads, the M6, for a good portion of the journey, with plenty of room on the bus as our party of 25 or so were occupying a vehicle with over 50 seats! (Great comfort!). Arriving at Crewe an hour earlier than planned (at 11am) we made our way through the town to the Crewe Heritage Centre, the base of Pete Waterman's "LNWR" Locomotive Works. On leaving the coach, Mr Waterman was waiting for us and the tour began with a wander around the front of the buildings. The first sight was the massive 2ft gauge Garratt locomotive (below) which stood, in a rather sorry state, on a short length of narrow gauge track. This engine, which is apparently the most powerful 2ft gauge locomotive in the world, is a recent arrival at Crewe and will be restored to full working order for use on the newly-opened Welsh Highland Railway in Wales. The plan is for "LNWR"s 20(!) new apprentices (why can't I live up there?!) to restore the Garratt as their 'project' within 1 year! Pete said it was an 'optimistic 1 year' but should be possible! However, it looks to me like a very big job! The thing is beastly!...
.JPG)
Behind us was a train that is often over-looked by followers of the railway world: the APT (Advanced Passenger Train). This train, designed by British Rail, was to give the company a brand new image of speed, luxury and comfort. It was a tilting train, one that was to be the flagship of BR and show the rest of the world what british technology could do. One of the trains, powered by overhead electricity, achieved a record speed of 160mph (a record which stood for 23 years) when in service but, in reality, the trains were full of faults. Most notably, when aboard the train, people began to feel sick! This was due to the tilting motion that was used when running at high speed. The problem was that the technology behind the "tilt" was so successful that it was almost "too successful". Basically, when the train tilted over, the passengers didn't feel the it. Therefore, what they were seeing out of the window did not match what they were feeling in the train (nothing). This, in turn, made them feel sick. Only 6 units (making 3 full 14-car sets with a driving unit at each end) were built and were only in service from 1980-86. Many units were quickly cut-up following service though the Crewe Heritage Centre has saved 6 cars which now stand on display in a single rake. I think it deserves preservation as it gave new ideas for rail travel to future generations. (Many forget this however!). Today, the same idea which tilted "APT" now tilts "Penadlino" though, differently, when "Pendalino" tilts over, passengers feel the tilt, abolishing sickness. A sad end for such an Advanced Passenger Train...
After a look around the machine shops we were taken into the boiler shop. Here, the lads (including some of the apprentices) were busying themselves with a Midland 4F Locomotive boiler, for the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway's example of the class. Pete then asked the lads to give us a demonstration of rivetting and the extremely loud noises which the process produces! Pete is seen below chatting about rivetting with the 4F Boiler in the background...
Following looking at the various boiler shop projects (there were a few!) we were taken outside to see a special one. This may not look alot to most of you but this is a great piece of engineering. This is, I don't know if I'm spelling it right(!), a Conicle Boiler. Basically, its tapered. Two sections of a boiler, one tapered, one not, are bolted and rivetted together to form the full product. It is special in the way that it is only the SECOND boiler of its type made in preservation, both of which have been made by LNWR at Crewe. Therefore, Crewe has been the only makers of brand new conicle boilers since BR made their last ones! A great achievement in my book...
This particular boiler is for Crewe's 2-6-4 BR Standard 4MT Tank which was seen out in the car park with only the frames and tanks making up its current format! Below, Pete discusses the tapered boiler and the difficulties found in lining one up!...
The next boiler to see was one which most of us had been anticipating...the boiler from BR Standard Class 7 Pacific No70000 "Britannia". The boiler of this locomotive was absolutely huge(!). In fact, only the boiler's of Stanier's Duchess (Princess Coronation) class locomotives were bigger than these! Its a coal gobbling monster! Many people believe that steam engine's can just be repaired but, as many of us know, they are getting increasingly harder to 'patch up' and keep running. This boiler, as Pete said, was one of those projects which nobody wanted to take on as it was a mammoth task. In fact, the amount of work that has been done to it is unbelievable. Pete told us that the bill for this machine is totalling over £750, 000 at present!! How anybody can afford to pay for these engines is anyones guess!!
Now, look at the image above. You see "Britannia"s boiler yes? Well, now look below. Compare those two images. The image below shows the ONLY original piece of the locomotive's boiler! Everything else has been replaced! The original section is the top plate on the fireman's side of the firebox...
Pete talked very enthusiastically about this boiler as, no doubt, the amount of work done to it suggests a huge 'want' for this massive machine to return to service, even though sister No70013 "Oliver Cromwell" is still flying the flag for the class on the main line. We were told that "Britannia", the leader of the class of the same name, will be returning to service in March 2010 and will then undertake main line tests. Therefore, could a double-headed Britannia run be on the cards?!...
.JPG)
The last boiler we saw was one which, in some ways, makes us sad at the naivety of some preservationists. (As many so perfectly put it!). This is the boiler from 0-4-2 14XX Autotank No1450 which, wearing a GWR Green livery, is normally a stalwart on many preserved railways. However, one driver accidently involved the engine in a collision which, unfortunately, CRACKED the boiler! The boiler is now out of the frames and is being given attention by LNWR but the bill is pretty big for such an unfortunate mistake! But, I suppose, what can you do?...
.JPG)
On the 'running road' was something very beautiful which I was very pleased to see(!): Stanier 4-6-2 Princess Royal Class 7P Pacific No6201 "Princess Elizabeth". Built in 1933, she was the 2nd of a batch of only two Princess Royal's designed by Sir William Stanier, the then 'new' CME of the London Midland & Scottish Railway company. Their size was something which was alien to the LMS who, back then, were using dated passenger engines from the Midland & LNWR era's! They were huge! No6200 "Princess Royal" & No6201 "Princess Elizabeth" launched the class and were later boosted in numbers by a 2nd batch of a further 11 locomotives in 1935. However, these differed to the original Princesses in that they had different boiler designs, set to improve steaming above that of 6200 & 6201. The first of the 2nd batch was No6203 "Princess Margaret Rose", the 2nd of the two preserved Princesses. Some of you may be wondering...was there no No6202?? Well, yes there was. She was very different to the other Princesses in that, she was, technically, a different class! 6202 "Princess Anne" was a special design which used Steam Turbine's instead of Cylinder's. This gave her the name of the "Turbomotive". Story continues below...
...6202 was later rebuilt, in 1952 as a conventional locomotive and named "Princess Anne". However, rather unfortunately, after 2 months in 'conventional' condition she was involved in the tragic Harrow & Wealdstone accident and was destroyed beyond repair. However, it is said that without the destruction of 6202 and a 'gap' being created in the loco fleet by her loss, BR Standard 8 No71000 "Duke of Gloucester" may never have been built. Today, No6201, wearing a beautiful LMS Crimson livery, runs regularly on the mainline and, occasionally, on a handful of preserved railways (i.e. SVR). Meanwhile, her sister, No6203, is out of ticket pending overhaul at Butterley, often sitting alongside her once rival, the larger Duchess Class(!) in the form of 6233 "Duchess of Sutherland"! No6201 is seen below out in the rain but looking absolutely fantastic! Dear Santa...
Further down the siding from 6201 was a sorry sight, No6009 "Union of South Africa", one of the Sir Nigel Gresley's famous 'racehorses', the A4 Class. Owned by John Cameron, who also owns K4 No61994 "The Great Marquess", the engine has just reached the end of a 10-year ticket and is, by the looks of things, not likely to return to service very soon...
60009 is seen carrying her "corridor tender", a feature of the class which allowed crew changes on the gruelling non-stop London Kings Cross to Edinburgh services such as the "Elizabethan"...
Quite a scary sight it was when we reached the front end! 60009 was not sporting her smokebox casing! Therefore, the smokebox and tubeplate could be seen but the engine did look very out of sorts. Its a shame that all boiler tickets must come to end but this is a fact of life...
A 'surprise' (of sorts!) was found in the back of the main shops in the form of LMS Royal Scot Class No6100 "Royal Scot", an engine that I had never seen before. Seperated from her tender (spotted outside in the sidings), the engine "is in" for valve alterations...
The seperation from the tender allows a good view of the cab fittings from floor-level...
All in all it had been a fantastically interesting and eye-opening visit to the LNWR locomotive works at Crewe which I will remember fondly for a long time. After thanking Mr Waterman for his kind hospitality it was off to the next destination, Pete's house!...(Keep an eye out of this post, coming soon!)...
Hi all! Today I was off on a coach trip with the GEC Model Engineering Society. Firstly, I make no apologies for the length of this 2-part post!The destination was Crewe and this is the first of two post's documenting the day. After boarding the coach at 9am sharp at the GEC site it was time to get started on the journey. This would take us up one of the country's busiest roads, the M6, for a good portion of the journey, with plenty of room on the bus as our party of 25 or so were occupying a vehicle with over 50 seats! (Great comfort!). Arriving at Crewe an hour earlier than planned (at 11am) we made our way through the town to the Crewe Heritage Centre, the base of Pete Waterman's "LNWR" Locomotive Works. On leaving the coach, Mr Waterman was waiting for us and the tour began with a wander around the front of the buildings. The first sight was the massive 2ft gauge Garratt locomotive (below) which stood, in a rather sorry state, on a short length of narrow gauge track. This engine, which is apparently the most powerful 2ft gauge locomotive in the world, is a recent arrival at Crewe and will be restored to full working order for use on the newly-opened Welsh Highland Railway in Wales. The plan is for "LNWR"s 20(!) new apprentices (why can't I live up there?!) to restore the Garratt as their 'project' within 1 year! Pete said it was an 'optimistic 1 year' but should be possible! However, it looks to me like a very big job! The thing is beastly!....JPG)
Behind us was a train that is often over-looked by followers of the railway world: the APT (Advanced Passenger Train). This train, designed by British Rail, was to give the company a brand new image of speed, luxury and comfort. It was a tilting train, one that was to be the flagship of BR and show the rest of the world what british technology could do. One of the trains, powered by overhead electricity, achieved a record speed of 160mph (a record which stood for 23 years) when in service but, in reality, the trains were full of faults. Most notably, when aboard the train, people began to feel sick! This was due to the tilting motion that was used when running at high speed. The problem was that the technology behind the "tilt" was so successful that it was almost "too successful". Basically, when the train tilted over, the passengers didn't feel the it. Therefore, what they were seeing out of the window did not match what they were feeling in the train (nothing). This, in turn, made them feel sick. Only 6 units (making 3 full 14-car sets with a driving unit at each end) were built and were only in service from 1980-86. Many units were quickly cut-up following service though the Crewe Heritage Centre has saved 6 cars which now stand on display in a single rake. I think it deserves preservation as it gave new ideas for rail travel to future generations. (Many forget this however!). Today, the same idea which tilted "APT" now tilts "Penadlino" though, differently, when "Pendalino" tilts over, passengers feel the tilt, abolishing sickness. A sad end for such an Advanced Passenger Train...
After a look around the machine shops we were taken into the boiler shop. Here, the lads (including some of the apprentices) were busying themselves with a Midland 4F Locomotive boiler, for the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway's example of the class. Pete then asked the lads to give us a demonstration of rivetting and the extremely loud noises which the process produces! Pete is seen below chatting about rivetting with the 4F Boiler in the background...
Following looking at the various boiler shop projects (there were a few!) we were taken outside to see a special one. This may not look alot to most of you but this is a great piece of engineering. This is, I don't know if I'm spelling it right(!), a Conicle Boiler. Basically, its tapered. Two sections of a boiler, one tapered, one not, are bolted and rivetted together to form the full product. It is special in the way that it is only the SECOND boiler of its type made in preservation, both of which have been made by LNWR at Crewe. Therefore, Crewe has been the only makers of brand new conicle boilers since BR made their last ones! A great achievement in my book...
This particular boiler is for Crewe's 2-6-4 BR Standard 4MT Tank which was seen out in the car park with only the frames and tanks making up its current format! Below, Pete discusses the tapered boiler and the difficulties found in lining one up!...
The next boiler to see was one which most of us had been anticipating...the boiler from BR Standard Class 7 Pacific No70000 "Britannia". The boiler of this locomotive was absolutely huge(!). In fact, only the boiler's of Stanier's Duchess (Princess Coronation) class locomotives were bigger than these! Its a coal gobbling monster! Many people believe that steam engine's can just be repaired but, as many of us know, they are getting increasingly harder to 'patch up' and keep running. This boiler, as Pete said, was one of those projects which nobody wanted to take on as it was a mammoth task. In fact, the amount of work that has been done to it is unbelievable. Pete told us that the bill for this machine is totalling over £750, 000 at present!! How anybody can afford to pay for these engines is anyones guess!! 
Now, look at the image above. You see "Britannia"s boiler yes? Well, now look below. Compare those two images. The image below shows the ONLY original piece of the locomotive's boiler! Everything else has been replaced! The original section is the top plate on the fireman's side of the firebox...
Pete talked very enthusiastically about this boiler as, no doubt, the amount of work done to it suggests a huge 'want' for this massive machine to return to service, even though sister No70013 "Oliver Cromwell" is still flying the flag for the class on the main line. We were told that "Britannia", the leader of the class of the same name, will be returning to service in March 2010 and will then undertake main line tests. Therefore, could a double-headed Britannia run be on the cards?!....JPG)
The last boiler we saw was one which, in some ways, makes us sad at the naivety of some preservationists. (As many so perfectly put it!). This is the boiler from 0-4-2 14XX Autotank No1450 which, wearing a GWR Green livery, is normally a stalwart on many preserved railways. However, one driver accidently involved the engine in a collision which, unfortunately, CRACKED the boiler! The boiler is now out of the frames and is being given attention by LNWR but the bill is pretty big for such an unfortunate mistake! But, I suppose, what can you do?....JPG)
On the 'running road' was something very beautiful which I was very pleased to see(!): Stanier 4-6-2 Princess Royal Class 7P Pacific No6201 "Princess Elizabeth". Built in 1933, she was the 2nd of a batch of only two Princess Royal's designed by Sir William Stanier, the then 'new' CME of the London Midland & Scottish Railway company. Their size was something which was alien to the LMS who, back then, were using dated passenger engines from the Midland & LNWR era's! They were huge! No6200 "Princess Royal" & No6201 "Princess Elizabeth" launched the class and were later boosted in numbers by a 2nd batch of a further 11 locomotives in 1935. However, these differed to the original Princesses in that they had different boiler designs, set to improve steaming above that of 6200 & 6201. The first of the 2nd batch was No6203 "Princess Margaret Rose", the 2nd of the two preserved Princesses. Some of you may be wondering...was there no No6202?? Well, yes there was. She was very different to the other Princesses in that, she was, technically, a different class! 6202 "Princess Anne" was a special design which used Steam Turbine's instead of Cylinder's. This gave her the name of the "Turbomotive". Story continues below...
...6202 was later rebuilt, in 1952 as a conventional locomotive and named "Princess Anne". However, rather unfortunately, after 2 months in 'conventional' condition she was involved in the tragic Harrow & Wealdstone accident and was destroyed beyond repair. However, it is said that without the destruction of 6202 and a 'gap' being created in the loco fleet by her loss, BR Standard 8 No71000 "Duke of Gloucester" may never have been built. Today, No6201, wearing a beautiful LMS Crimson livery, runs regularly on the mainline and, occasionally, on a handful of preserved railways (i.e. SVR). Meanwhile, her sister, No6203, is out of ticket pending overhaul at Butterley, often sitting alongside her once rival, the larger Duchess Class(!) in the form of 6233 "Duchess of Sutherland"! No6201 is seen below out in the rain but looking absolutely fantastic! Dear Santa...
Further down the siding from 6201 was a sorry sight, No6009 "Union of South Africa", one of the Sir Nigel Gresley's famous 'racehorses', the A4 Class. Owned by John Cameron, who also owns K4 No61994 "The Great Marquess", the engine has just reached the end of a 10-year ticket and is, by the looks of things, not likely to return to service very soon...
60009 is seen carrying her "corridor tender", a feature of the class which allowed crew changes on the gruelling non-stop London Kings Cross to Edinburgh services such as the "Elizabethan"...
Quite a scary sight it was when we reached the front end! 60009 was not sporting her smokebox casing! Therefore, the smokebox and tubeplate could be seen but the engine did look very out of sorts. Its a shame that all boiler tickets must come to end but this is a fact of life...
A 'surprise' (of sorts!) was found in the back of the main shops in the form of LMS Royal Scot Class No6100 "Royal Scot", an engine that I had never seen before. Seperated from her tender (spotted outside in the sidings), the engine "is in" for valve alterations...
The seperation from the tender allows a good view of the cab fittings from floor-level...
All in all it had been a fantastically interesting and eye-opening visit to the LNWR locomotive works at Crewe which I will remember fondly for a long time. After thanking Mr Waterman for his kind hospitality it was off to the next destination, Pete's house!...(Keep an eye out of this post, coming soon!)...
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