56040's days are numbered...

[adamp]

Get it while you can...
http://gbrailwayworld.fotopic.net/c1941970.html

Cheers, Adam/GBRW

 

[almark]

Very sad to see that,thanks for the fot.

 

[50041]

Better days, just a short while ago:

http://englishelectric.zenfolio.com/p821508223/e35b9392b

 

[D1001]

Better days, just a short while ago:

http://englishelectric.zenfolio.com/p821508223/e35b9392b

A 56 is not a christmas tree, a 56 is for life!

I can see a lot of sense in their decision but also is this setting a worrying precedent? Can you imagine Western Champion being scrapped because the group was offered a refurbished 52 in better condition? Once preserved, they should perservere or else it is not preserved is it?

 

[12CSVT]

It won't be the first time a former operational preserved loco has gone for scrap - 20206, 31123, 31188 for example. And it could easily have happened to 55016 a few years ago.

 

[56006]

A 56 is not a christmas tree, a 56 is for life!

I can see a lot of sense in their decision but also is this setting a worrying precedent? Can you imagine Western Champion being scrapped because the group was offered a refurbished 52 in better condition? Once preserved, they should perservere or else it is not preserved is it?

I understand what you're saying, but the two are incomparable to be fair. D1015, is one of 7 remaining Westerns, of which all are preserved and so there is literally no chance to preserve anymore, while with 56s, there are opportunities to save more with the Fertis fleet still to be disposed of...

 

[ChrisCooper]

These desisions have to be made, and will have to be made more in the future. There is an ever increasing population of preserved locos, yet an ever decreasing amount of spairs, and at the moment finance. When it comes to more modern locos, spairs become even harder as they are more complicated and less easy to just make. Something like a 56 will have a lot of electronics, you don't just bash them up in a workshop like you might other parts. What might look good on the outside can have all sorts of problems on the inside. A big mistake often made is to take something as a runner (or with some minor work a runner), clean it up, wack a coat of paint on it and call the job done, only then to realise how much work needs doing if it's going to survive long term. I know someone who bought a bus out of service, swapped a few panels and sent it off for painting. A year down the line they realised the floor was rotten and it's supports rusted, the air system needed a total overhaul, the gearbox was faulty, the electrics were a nightmare and finally when it went for MOT that it had 2 broken springs. It went for scrap.