User talk:Dai Dant

Thomas the imposter?

Do you have any good references for this Thomas conversion on the Watercress, and whether it's an Austerity or not?

Thomas wasn't a Jinty. Like most of the Railway Series, he isn't an exact copy of anything. The front of Thomas' side tanks and the splasher is distinctive and is generally considered to represent a LB&SCR E2 class. None survie, so the Watercress Thomas is a rebuild of something else, maybe an Austerity, maybe a Jinty. I can't tell from here. The dropped buffer beam isn't very Austerity like, but neither is it Jinty-like, so it's probably a modification during conversion. More tellingly, Jintys had Belpaire fireboxes, and I doubt that anyone had the budget to reboiler. So in the absence of any other evidence, I'd see Austerity as more likely than Jinty, although I can't claim to know either way. Andy Dingley (talk) 23:32, 20 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Andy

Upon further research, I find I am incorrect.

I retract totally my incorrect questioning if the photo caption. It is of an austerity 0-6-0 converted to resemble "Thomas". The jinty on the Langollen Railway does seem to do a better job of it, though do I feel it would look better in original black!

Apologies for the error. Dai

Dai Dant (talk) 22:02, 22 November 2010 (UTC)Dai_DantDai Dant (talk) 22:02, 22 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No problem.

If you do find some refs for the Watercress conversion, and it is an Austerity after all, then there's an article at List of preserved Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST locomotives that could use some expansion. Andy Dingley (talk) 01:21, 23 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]