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The City of Birmingham - 46235

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Radiorails said:
Since retirement from British Railways, Flying Scotsman has had three very wealthy owners - the first of whom it virtually bankrupted - and finally the National Railway Museum. Its recent overhaul - funded mostly by you the taxpayer - cost around 4 million pounds. That is why there is so much hype about her, in the hope that she can earn a living and
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I believe I am right in stating that there is very little left of the original Flying Scotsman.

I am a very keen steam enthusiast, but Duchess of Sutherland is still running, and the re-streamlined Duchess of Hamilton (work undertaken by Tyseley), also available, if needed, perhaps we should keep City of Birmingham where it currently stands. After all, it is now a unique locomotive in its own right.

Just my opinion.

Eddie
.
 
I was looking at the Flying Scotsman last week, very splendid, very restored and even more expensive. I am pleased that it is well loved and well used.

My view is, that restoring objects like the City of Birmingham does not add to saving the heritage of the railways. It great for the people who like riding on steam trains, but for it to run on a modern railway, it would need a significant amount of the original parts replacing, at vast expense in money, and vast expense in losing its originality. Its out in the world competing with a number of other very well restored steam locos.

Its 'as withdrawn for service condition', places it in a unique position in that it is one of the few remaining locos like this that is accessible. I like the fact that you can see all the marks of its working life and maintenance. Lots of hammer marks and number stamps indicating that people worked on this loco and left their mark. Layers of history that have built up over many years. I believe that we should both respect and pay homage to those everyday people who worked and maintained these locos in their working lives.
 
Radiorails said:
Since retirement from British Railways, Flying Scotsman has had three very wealthy owners - the first of whom it virtually bankrupted - and finally the National Railway Museum. Its recent overhaul - funded mostly by you the taxpayer - cost around 4 million pounds. That is why there is so much hype about her, in the hope that she can earn a living.

I think that the tax payer has reaped the benefit from Flying Scotsman's numerous rail tours. No one should be allowed to "throw away" history, even if one's preferred method of travel, or interest, is not in railways. Preservation (of all industrial kinds, especially) is to show future generations what happened in Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries. I believe that the various railway preservation societies, heritage railways and National Railway Museum are doing an excellent job in keeping our railway past alive.
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Having read other contributors' comments, I'm inclined to believe that the City of Birmingham locomotive should be kept "as-is" and in the safe keeping of the Birmingham Think Tank, for all to see (number stamps, dents, hammer-marks and all!). After all, we have, at the moment 2 other representatives of this locomotive class which could run on main-line specials, after overhauls and restorations. It's not cheap to maintain a steam locomotive in working order, these days, and I'm sure the various owners and operators of such locomotives would be more than willing to receive contributions from members of the public to help them. After all, as they say, "once it's gone, it's gone!" So...look on line and follow up on the various schemes and projects. They're there for all to see. If you're interested, get involved and pass on this history to the upcoming generations. They will be grateful.
 
On a few occasions I've wondered if there were any original photos of this Locomotive being named officially at New Street Station in March 1945 by Alderman Wiggins-Davies ??? one would have thought there might be some tucked away in an library archive of Birmingham Mail perhaps ???? obviously being a Brummie Trainspotter in the 1950's and Tamworth (in the spotters field) being one of the places to see this racing along the low level heading an express........always exciting !!!
 

46235 City of Birmingham (LMS 6235 & BR 46235)​

The City of Birmingham locomotive is one of only three surviving LMS Princess Coronation class locomotives. It has been preserved exactly as when it left service
6235 was originally built in 1939 at Crewe, and entered LMS stock in July 1939. As built it was streamlined and was the first to be fitted with a double chimney (previous locomotives being built with single chimneys and later modified). Its livery was LMS crimson lake with cheat lines, but during the Second World War it acquired austere unlined black livery. Though it carried the name City of Birmingham from new, 6235 was officially named at a ceremony at Birmingham New Street on 20 March 1945, and a special coat of arms plate was then fitted above the nameplate. The streamlining was removed for maintenance reasons in April 1946, making 6235 the first streamliner to be destreamlined, and at the same time it was fitted with smoke deflectors, and livery continued to be black.


6235 passed to British Railways ownership in 1948, and in March was given the BR number 46235, which was applied in May. It was one of the engines given the short-lived blue livery for top express passenger engines in 1950. In April 1952, the semi-streamlined sloping smokebox front was replaced with a round-topped smokebox. 46235 was repainted into BR Brunswick Green livery from April 1953, and it retained this livery through until withdrawn from service in September 1964.
1766758832458.jpeg
 
Morturn

Post in thread 'The City of Birmingham - 46235'

I was looking at the Flying Scotsman last week, very splendid, very restored and even more expensive. I am pleased that it is well loved and well used.

My view is, that restoring objects like the City of Birmingham does not add to saving the heritage of the railways. It great for the people who like riding on steam trains, but for it to run on a modern railway, it would need a significant amount of the original parts replacing, at vast expense in money, and vast expense in losing its originality. Its out in the world competing with a number of other very well restored steam locos.

Its...
 
Donbogen said:
Am i right in recalling it moving
backwards and forwards
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Yes, the "City of Birmingham" locomotive (No. 46235) did move in the old Birmingham Museum of Science & Industry on Newhall Street, often described as coming to life with sounds and movement on a short track, likely powered by an electric motor or compressed air, a feature visitors loved before it moved to the static display at Thinktank, where it is now fixed
wish folks did not call locos trains though
 
46235 was prepared by BR for preservation, and after storage at Nuneaton MPD, moved to the Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry, which was built around the locomotive. After closure of that museum, 46235 was moved into Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum in 1997.

Unlike the other two surviving members of the class, City of Birmingham has never steamed in preservation.
 
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