BofB Locos

Don’t forget the lovely old WW2 Watson class Lifeboat ‘Jesse Lumb’!

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Will 92 Squadron be at Leg-ends next year?

Now that really would be Legends, take the real old kites out of the hangars, add an RTTL, submarine, fuel bowser, bomb trolleys, a couple of tanks and a B of B loco, cordon an area off so that spectators could soak up the atmosphere of yesteryear :p

Snip> Winston Churchill was always earmarked to pull the Great Man’s funeral train and up until his death was maintained in pristine condition and little used.
Following the funeral, the loco ran light back to London and was stored pending preservation, I don’t think it ever steamed again. Subsequently having been kept in various locations it ended up in York Museum in the 70’s where it lives today.
Having never been mechanically restored to working order and kept under cover for 40 years,the loco has probably never been repainted. I gave it a good going over last year when I went to the Railfest and I came to the conclusion that it retained it’s original early 60’s paintwork, or can someone prove me wrong.
I can’t think of another steam loco in preservation that retains it’s original BR paintwork in such good condition,

34051 was patch painted in the mid 1980s and again in the 1990’s, however the only 100% ex BR paint job is on 60010 Dominion of Canada, loacted in Montreal Canada. She was part scrapped when asked for by the Canadian’s rebuilt using parts of Kingfisher and painted at Doncaster in 1965/6.

Just dug out my 1961/62 edition of the fabled Combined Volume:-
LMS Patriot class, many of them named after WWI regiments and heroes, ie 45537, Private E Sykes VC.
LMS Jubilee class, many of them named after famous admirals and battles, ie 45682, Trafalgar.
LMS Royal Scot class, named after army regiments but included 46159, The Royal Air Force.
LNER V2 class, names of regiments including what I believe was the longest ever nameplate, 60809, The Snapper, The East Yorkshire Regiment, The Duke of Yorks Own, whats that worth now.
North British Railway, class J36, named after WW1 generals and battles, ie 65222, Somme.
BR Britannia class, a few generals in there, ie 70034, Lord Kitchener.
Deisels and electrics can get stuffed but don’t forget the Warships and the odd Peak.
That must cause this thread to be removed to the Railway Magazine.
Incidentally, someone mentioned the Nene Valley Railway, I once spent a happy hour in a layby on the A1 watching the train attack scene being filmed for A Piece of Cake involving 2 Spitfires, all condensed into 10 seconds.

Yep i believe they removed the narrow gauge track at Duxford. Was it ever used anyway? Would have been nice for them to use the WW1 loco’s, especially the armoured Simplex, up and down the line, could have given rides for money as well

They did up untill about 10 years ago, we used to take the kids on it during the airshows, never stopped running even during the flying displays, was a fantastic way of getting up close to taxying aircraft. At the end of the line was a trench system which the train looped round, this brought you to the end of the runway which got quite exciting when things were landing or doing low and fast flyby’s, have some good video footage from the early 90’s taken from the train of all this, presumably health and safety waved their wands and put a stop to it.
Incidentally, the WW1 wreck is off Brancaster Beach and miles from Weybourne, we once rowed out to it in a flotilla of inflatables at low tide, most impressive wreck, especially the engine, too dangerous to get inside though. I believe it was a collier from the North East that put itself close inshore during a U-boat warning and ran aground, I don’t think that there were any fatalities, but someone may know more about it, over to you.
Incidentally, I disagree that rebuilt BoB’s were ugly, I think they were quite powerful looking beasts, my great possesion is a boxed, mint, 3-rail, Hornby Dublo version of it, needs a new bearing for the Ringfield motor though. The last unrebuilt version in service was a West Country, Blackmore Vale, which I photo’d at Eastleigh in 1967, I know that this has survived into preservation and may be the most original, apart from Winston Churchill, as most of the Barry recoveries have been newly clad.

It was there in July, well some of it was anyway. There may have been more at one time.

Yep i believe they removed the narrow gauge track at Duxford. Was it ever used anyway? Would have been nice for them to use the WW1 loco’s, especially the armoured Simplex, up and down the line, could have given rides for money as well

Pete – also at York is “Lode Star”. It’s painted in GWR colours, but it’s still in paint applied at Swindon in the age of steam.

Right then, if it’s ok to discuss chuff chuffs in an aviation context, does any body know what some of the a/c at The Fleet Air Arm Museum and BoB class Winston Churchill have in common.
Ok, I’ll let you out of your misery and not turn his into a quiz.
As you all know the FAAM are restoring some of their airframes by stripping back the later paintwork to reveal the original colours and markings, I believe the Corsair has been been ‘done’ and the Martlet is next, or is it the other way around.
Winston Churchill was always earmarked to pull the Great Man’s funeral train and up until his death was maintained in pristine condition and little used.
Following the funeral, the loco ran light back to London and was stored pending preservation, I don’t think it ever steamed again. Subsequently having been kept in various locations it ended up in York Museum in the 70’s where it lives today.
Having never been mechanically restored to working order and kept under cover for 40 years,the loco has probably never been repainted. I gave it a good going over last year when I went to the Railfest and I came to the conclusion that it retained it’s original early 60’s paintwork, or can someone prove me wrong.
I can’t think of another steam loco in preservation that retains it’s original BR paintwork in such good condition, possibly Evening Star, but that must have been pulled to pieces a few times when it’s been steamed over the past 40 years.
I was shopping in Sheringham last year when a low loader appeared in the car park with 92 Squadron’s tender on the back, the loco arrived several days later due to mechanical problems, I thought that the paintwork looked a bit tired, never liked malachite green, GWR green was much more satisfying.
No, I have’nt got a paint fetish.
Will 92 Squadron be at Leg-ends next year?

I suspect this thread, until rescued by the last post, was in danger of being a little too far off-topic.

If it strays too far and gets shifted, we must carry it on. I’ll happily continue to discuss steam engines, with some knowledge but aided by loads of books. 🙂

Well lets make darn sure its not elbowed into oblivion and kept on ‘clackity clack’, this thread has as much to do with Historic Aviation as has Thames Forts/Waverley, the price of burgers at Duxford, the length of time getting into/out of Air Shows or even aerial photos of the Mulberry Harbour as it is today. It is all part of a bigger picture of WW2, to see re-enactors at Sheringham Station making a Forties Weekend come alive, which even local TV managed to think was newsworthy, showing RAF/US uniforms to striking effect, a NAAFI tent, authentic guards and porters with a railway station straight out of yesteryear was magic.

The whole ambience was very nostalgic to me as I was brought up in this period and travelled extensively on the then railway system both as a kid and later as an airman. To see a railway engine name plate on a restored steam engine named after heroes/places/squadrons during the Battle of Britain was the icing on the cake only topped by a flypast at 12 noon by a real Spitfire. 🙂

I suspect this thread, until rescued by the last post, was in danger of being a little too far off-topic.

If it strays too far and gets shifted, we must carry it on. I’ll happily continue to discuss steam engines, with some knowledge but aided by loads of books. 🙂

Saw some of the plates displayed on the wall in Bentley Priory a couple of years ago. Can’t remember how many or which ones.

Peter

John, changing to a BoB related name didn’t stop them being Castles. 😀

Browsing through a steam magazine in the newsagents today and saw a nameplate, I think for a Southern “Schools”, that had never come up for auction before made £28,500. It would seem that nameplates were a fairly good investment. In the same snippet, a plate that somebody had paid BR two quid for went for 12 grand!

And after a quick Google…

5071 Spitfire
5072 Hurricane
5073 Blenheim
5074 Hampden
5075 Wellington
5076 Gladiator
5077 Fairey Battle
5078 Beaufort
5079 Lysander
5080 Defiant
5081 Lockheed Hudson
5082 Swordfish

Now some of these names I remember from Gods Wonderful Railways (GWR) when a kid living near Swindon and believe most if not all were ex ‘Castle’ 4-6-0 types, I wonder who owns these plate names today as the RAF Museum site says one of the BofB Class plates sold for £3000 at auction, what price any of the above, eh? :rolleyes:

Another of my hobbies!

Some piccies, including Sir Frederick Pile when completely rebuilt. Not all the BofBs and West Countrys were rebuilt as it was not considered economic at the end of the 1950s with the plan to oust steam (which lasted on these locos’ patch in the Southern Region until 1966 I believe!) The rebuilt locos were not so exotic to look at but were easier to service and run. All 30 of their slightly larger sisters, the Merchant Navies (see 35005 in pic) were rebuilt. however. I’m a GWR fan myself so “Defiant” means more to me but I do like the lines of these Bullied Pacifics in both their forms. Please note that I cannot take credit for these pics! The trio photo comes from the Mid Hants Railway, near Lasham, and is a “must see”, its excellent!

Nah you don’t want to shut your eyes on the Gama goat, miss some great views, including the wreck of a ship sunk in WWI

No Name
34049 Anti Aircraft Command
34050 Royal Observer Corps
34051 Sir Winston Churchill
34052 Lord Dowding
34053 Sir Keith Park
34054 Lord Beaverbrook
34055 Fighter Pilot
34056 Croydon
34057 Biggin Hill
34058 Sir Frederick Pile
34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair
34060 25 Squadron
34061 73 Squadron
34062 17 Squadron
34063 229 Squadron
34064 Fighter Command
34065 Hurricane
34066 Spitfire
34068 Kenley
34069 Hawkinge
34070 Manston
34071 601 Squadron
34072 257 Squadron
34073 249 Squadron
34074 46 Squadron
34075 264 Squadron
34076 41 Squadron
34077 603 Squadron
34078 222 Squadron
34079 141 Squadron
34080 74 Squadron
34081 92 Squadron
34082 615 Squadron
34083 605 Squadron
34084 253 Squadron
34085 501 Squadron
34086 219 Squadron
34087 145 Squadron
34088 213 Squadron
34089 602 Squadron
34090 Sir Eustace Missenden – Southern Railway
34092 City of Wells
34109 Sir Trafford Leigh Mallory
34110 66 Squadron

City of Wells was a West Country class, same design, just different names, there’s quite a few of those left to, my first ever train picture was taken of City of Wells on the Golden Arrow at Folkestone in 1958 with a Kodak Brownie, believe it or not it remains quite a good picture.
Best thing about the Muckleburgh Collection is the Gamma Goat ride, just hang on and shut your eyes.

92 Squadron is owned bythe Nene Valley Railway near Peterborough, and is currently on loan to the NNR
I saw it running last year, very impressive!

‘Defiant’ is still around, at Birmingham Railway Museum, Tyseley i think. Bit of a dump though last time i went

Great photo sir