Re: R711 (and other WCR stuff)

[mercury@netspace.nospam.net.au (David A.)]

On Wed, 13 May 1998 21:37:37 -0700, Craig Haber
<albatross@harnessnet.com.au> wrote:

>G'day,
>
>R711's boiler was test steamed at full working pressure yesterday (Tues
>12/5), it had no problems, tomorrow (Thurs 15/5) it will be returned to
>the frame (which is on wheels).  
>
Craig, any news on what livery 711 will carry when it is returned to
traffic ?  I reckon WCR blue with the 'W' emblem on the tender with
the stripes leading back to match the coaches (like on the S diesels)
would actually look OK.  This is going to be a regular service loco
hauling regular revenue trains after all.  It might as well carry the
company colours ;)

Also, is there any truth to the rumour that the R will have a new,
larger tender ?  Somebody told me (who shall remain nameless as it is
probably a hoax) that a new 12 wheel tender was on the cards, similar
to those used by the S class streamliners, possibly using second hand
diesel bogies from SA with the motors taken out.  The justification
was that extra capacity would be needed to get to Warrnambool without
a service stop.  Begs the question are we talking about water here or
just coal ?   What's the effective range of an R anyway ?  Makes you
wonder why the VR designed them with a smaller capacity tender; axle
load and therefore route availability or just to keep the tare weight
of the thing down - like the theory that two GYs were better than the
equivalent bogie vehicle of equivalent capacity because the tare
weight was lower !

Cheers, David A.
David Arblaster, Melbourne, Australia - Remove 'NoSpam' to reply
"What does it mean when a man unearths an ancient urn but buries
 his thermos flask in the process ?"  Michael Leunig