Re: 3801 and 3830 Double Headers

[Michael Walker <walker@hotkey.net.au>]

Thanks David for all the info! Just for my ignorance, what exactly is
the 'ASG' ?

With regard to the E and F, my understanding is that these were the
mainstay of the suburban network at one stage. Not everybody wants (or
can afford) to go on numerous main line trips and most trips around the
local network are reserved to the odd K class trip run as a publicity
gimmick for some local festival or other or the Elecrail Tait. I am not
saying that I disagree with this but it is hardly a 'representative' run
of the K class which would only have run on suburban trips with freight
or maybe the odd Stony Point or Mornington train or Healesville train
when the policy changed on running railcars.

Whilst on this thread or restoration, does anyone know anything about
the Harris train restoration? I see the odd thing here and there in the
magazines saying it is still being restored but I haven't seen anything
for a while.

David Bromage wrote:
> 
> Michael Walker (walker@hotkey.net.au) wrote:
> >As a related issue, I would be interested to see something similar here.
> >Steamrail & co. do an excellent job restoring various steam, diesel and
> >electric locomotives and running stock in Victoria but there are still a
> >lot of static exhibits in the Williamstown Railway Museum enjoying the
> >sea air. Is this due to lack of funds to restore them or lack of
> >volunteer-power? It would be interesting to know what it would take to
> >get some of the static locos moving again especially those 'classic'
> >classes not represented in a restored fashion already eg D3, A2, E or F,
> >and extra especially Heavy Harry (H).
> 
> Some items were in pretty shocking mechanical/boiler condition when they
> were put in the museum, but a static exhibit only needs to look good.
> Those which are capable of a relatively easy restoration are the
> stephenson A2, N (Steamrail has spare N boilers built by Clyde in 1956
> which have never been used), C (spare boiler), X (spare boiler) and D4.
> There are also numerous J, K and R spares around so they may also be a
> possibility. I remember some Steamrail loco types looked at H220 about 6
> years ago and found it was a difficult, but possible restoration.
> 
> Then there comes the need for a restoration over and above "it would be
> nice to". I'll take some of them case by case.
> 
> J: Already two working examples (J515 and J549), with one more under
>    restoration (J541) and three others (J512, J516 and J536) set aside for
>    restoration.
> K: Already five (nominally) working examples (K153, K160, K163, K183 and
>    K190. I know some are out for overhaul.) with others easier to restore.
>    We can still dream of putting new bearings on K184.
> R: Already three working examples (R707, R761 and R766) with two more
>    (R711 and R753) in the pipeline and another (R700) set aside.
> C: They were always poor steamers. Bad air flow caused poor cumbustion,
>    and a badly designed smokebox didn't help either. This alone wouldn't
>    be a huge problem, but the inefficiently generated steam was even more
>    inefficiently delivered to the cylinders by poor valves. It would mean
>    a 50km/h slog up Heathcote Bank, and worse up Ingliston. Unless you
>    make major modifications then it's hardly worth the effort. The
>    restoration of the 8P class no 71000 "Duke of Gloucester" in the UK is
>    a good example of what would be needed. The 8P had much the same
>    problems, but engineers with computers were able to redesign the
>    draghting to vastly improve steaming.
> D2: Possible, but why bother when you can do another more powerful D3?
> D3: Already one running (639/658) with 638 a better possibility.
> D4: Possible, but limited range and speed. More suitable for a tourist railway.
> Stephenson A2: Possible, but not much in the way of spares for the motion
>     gear. Like most A2s, there is probably some frame cracking.
> N: This has a lot going for it, particularly the "new" boilers. Same power
>    and speed as a K but with a little more range and is easier to fire.
>    Can't be turned on a 53' turntable, but the only ones still in use are
>    at Robinvale and Numurkah.
> X: Also has a lot going for it. Would probably only be allowed 80km/h (100
>    being a very remote possibility), but fan trips with wooden cars only
>    run at this speed anyway. The only problem is finding a fireman brave
>    enough to hand fire the thing. At it doesn't have a booster, there is
>    space to graft an R class mechanical stoker under the cab.
> H220: Where would you run it? The only turning facilities for a loco this
>    long are in Melbourne and Geelong. However! If restored to standard
>    gauge, this opens up a lot of possibilities. Melbourne, Ararat,
>    Warracknabeal, South Australia, Southern NSW......
> 
> Not much use for the E or F class tank engines or the T class, apart from
> on a tourist railway. And no real need for another Y class.
> 
> The Geelong Steam Preservation Society owns the ASG (on loan to ARHS) and
> it is a "one day" project. It was hard to justify restoring something as
> big as V1209 so the ASG would be even harder.
> 
> On to non-steam, B83 worked into the museum under its own power and is
> started regularly (at least weekly) to keep the motor from decaying. I
> understand L1150 was operational when put into the museum. Typical example
> of non-communication between societies. Of the four L class electric locos
> saved from scrapping, the only one still operational gets preserved as a
> static exhibit!
> 
> This doesn't mean that nothing should be done. The smaller locos are quite
> suitable for tourist railways and the larger ones could easily be done by
> any of the main line operators. The long term loan of the DERM to the
> South Gippsland Railway is an example of what can be done.
> 
> Cheers
> David