Have changed my avitar to the latest photo taken today. 6046, the running boards are in position and the steam tubes will be arriving this week. The group assembling the loco have been told that is has got to be running by the last week in Nov. at the lastest by the owner.
Quick update, Work has started on the boiler, steam tubes are on order and are due in soon. Elsewhere the cab is being outfitted and bits and pieces being add to the frames, the way its going it should be in steam this year. Two latest photos on my facebook. Cheers Jeff.
Missed last week due to gout, Don't laugh is's very painful. Anyhow went up today it really is coming on in leaps and bounds.The smokebox is being assembled and today they are putting the bands on the boiler clading. I've put 2 photos on my facebook page and as you see the workshop is a bit confining.
Things are now really moving with 6046 this week. The boiler cladding has been fitted, the cab secured in place and the firebox doors also fitted, Don't you just like it when a plan starts coming together.
You're right the shed is not as big would like but we are doing as much as possible in house for example we are rolling all the boiler clading there, all the motion has been assembled and we have a all round good machinist and backup team. If you look up on youtube you'll see that other locos went up the Cauldon Low line on the reopening gala but you're right it is suited to 8 coupled engines. It wiil be great to see one or both S160s double heading up there. Save your money and come over for the double header in a couple of years. Cheers Jeff.
Took a look at the photos of 6046 being restored. Looks like an extremely thorough job, considering they don't exactly have a huge, fully equipped shop. Nice to see these engines getting the attention. That 8F the CVR has is very nice, too. Eight-coupled engines seem to have a versatility lacking in other classes, i.e., they could be used in just about any kind of service. I suspect that grey paint on the tender is just a primer coat. Makes me want to don the fatigues and come over and run her for you. I spent 18 years in the US Army, albeit mostly working in intelligence rather than transportation, but am now a qualified locomotive engineer for Union Pacific. I have a great appreciation for both railroads and the military. Whatever, nice job, lads!
If you go on www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk there is a nice 5 min. video of S160 5197 on the railway in, events, video diaries theres also some photos in the 2006 steam gala.They were putting bands on 6046 today ready for the outer boiler casing, they were also rolling the outer casings
As an American I'm honored you folks want to paint the S160's in US Army markings. As an aside, when I was in the Marines in 1976 we stopped in Portsmouth on the way back from a NATO operation, and the folks in Portsmouth were great to us! All I could think of was the guys who were there in WW2 must have made a great impression on the British people. I was also introduced to your quaint custom of "Penny for The Guy?", but that's another story.
Well we like them in any guise, they go down particulary well at the Stations at War Weekends so it will be in that sort of vein, Can't wait to see them tackle the new extention with the 7,5 mile gradient. This must be the largest preserved class of locomotive in the world so it's a tribute to American Engineering and they are great embassadors for the USA.
Paint them any way you like, my friend. They're the Churnet Valley's engines, so please yourselves and don't worry what anyone else says.
5197 awaiting the 10 year overhaul is in black with USA on the tender, Before its repaint it was grey with USATC on the tender, Not sure what 6049 will carry but the completed tender is painted black, will ask the owner on Wednesday ( the day I volunteer) and let you know, Thanks Jeff.
Are you repainting them as USATC engines? I didn't have a chance to look at any photos, btw.
I have posted 5 photos of the S160s on my facebook they were taken today. Jeff Higginson
Thanks for the kind offer of the tour! It won't be anytime soon, but maybe one day...
Glad you liked the CVR website, I volunteer there and work on the p/way. If ever you come over Iwould be glad to show you around the railway. The line we have refurbished is the Cauldon branch and is steeply inclined. Cannot wait to see 6046 go up it with a good load on, The sight,smell but most of all the sound should be tremendous.
I have to admit I'd never heard of the Churnet Valley Railway, so I did an online search for some information. Found it. WOW! If I ever get over to Britain I'll definately have to come and see you folks! The pictures on the site are just great and I love how those Limas picked up a "British accent" in the years they've been over there. Like an old friend of mine once said, "it's a wasted day if you haven't learned something new!"
It's been a while since I last posted on here about the 2 S160s on the Churnet Valley Railway. All work virtually stopped on the restoration of 6046 whilst we entered an agreement to restore a mothballed line in partnership with a commercial railway. This now gives us access to a further 7.5 miles of track but it was all hands to the pump for 12 months. Work has now restarted on 6046 and the last month has seen the motion go on,the ashpan fitted and a new smokebox fitted. The tender is completed and painted. Iis hoped to have it all done by the end of the year. Meanwhile the other one 5197 is on display and will be overhauled as soon as 6046 is done. So hopefully in a couple of years time both of them could be echoing down the valley.
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