49XX 'Hall' update 20 December 2016
The ‘Hall’ pre-production sample has been assessed in detail by our technical experts and a detailed report showing all the required production changes has been prepared and sent to the builders. Last week we sent the sample back to the builders for modification in accordance with those changes Surprisingly, as on the ‘Grange’, we discovered there were many more changes needed than we expected. Following expert detailed technical advice we have also discovered that the 49XX, 59XX and 69XX ‘Halls’ (excluding the ‘Modified Halls’) had very significant changes, which are not easy to incorporate in a build of only 60 locomotives. We would therefore like to limit the build to fewer types, especially eliminating versions with difficult modifications. This would mean dropping the 69XX type on this build and limiting the range on offer in the 59XX range to engines up to 5920. For later engines we would propose that this could be a subject of another build in the future (admittedly it could be some time before these locomotives would become available). We will be contacting customers who have ordered later 59XX and 69XX locomotives to see if they would be prepared to consider other earlier locomotives before we make the final decision.
As on the ‘Grange’, a key area where we made a mistake was chimneys. There is the same complexity of three types, the ‘Hall’, the ‘Grange’ and the improved draught (ID) types. As ‘Grange’ and ‘Hall’ boilers were swapped around frequently, all of these chimneys appeared at some time on some ‘Hall’ locomotives. We will be contacting customers to confirm which of the three chimney types they require.
Customers will have the choice of the four tender types: Churchward 3500 gallon, Collett 3500 gallon, Collet 4000 gallon, or Hawksworth 4000 gallon tenders. If you have access to copies of the Book of the Halls’ Volumes 1, 2 and 3 (Ian Sixsmith - Irwell Press) you can see how the range of tenders were swapped around the various locomotives. Our tender availability gives you a wide choice of tender for this locomotive. This variety adds considerable interest to this locomotive and several customers have opted for two different types of tender for their ‘Hall’ locomotives.
Our current thoughts on ‘Hall’ production are not yet fixed. We could try to produce it at the same time as the ‘Grange’ (mid-2017) or leave it to join the 28XX/38XX production (late 2017). The matter is not yet decided.