Page six in the newsletter has the announcement. In short, because the Earl of Merioneth II is beat, a new double fairlie will be built to replace it in the fleet until funds are available for the heavy overhaul (i.e. replace everything) it'll require. The new one is taking on the name and number of one of the double engines no longer with us, James Spooner.
http://www.festrail.co.uk/content/uploa ... l_2016.pdf

That's quite interesting. At what point does it become more economical to build a new locomotive rather than rebuild a worn out one? I suppose a lot would have to do with the resources available. And it's interesting that a 37 year old locomotive would be that worn out.

The construction of a new narrow gauge steam locomotive is always cause for celebration, and I never cease to be amazed by the energy and ability of the FR's Boston Lodge Works. They've undertaken this task repeatedly in recent decades and have demonstrated both great organizational competence and a devotion to old-fashioned craftsmanship.

However, I'm always left scratching my head a bit at the FR's "replace everything" heavy overhauls, which present an extreme case of the familiar "Ship of Theseus"/"grandpa's axe" paradox that is inherent to all historic preservation efforts -- namely, if you have replaced every single component of a locomotive, do you still have the same locomotive you had before, or is it merely a replica? The FR's four George England-built 0-4-0s from the 1860s are probably the most extreme example of this, as they have each experienced total replacement (even several times over) of all their parts (frames included!) in their 150 years of working life, and yet they're still somehow considered to be the same engines. The FR's little engines are worked hard, and replacing old parts with new is what's kept them running all these years, so arguably they wouldn't be able to get away with doing it any other way. It's really an amazing thing to contemplate.

My congratulations to the FR!

-Philip Marshall

The F.R. works their locos hard and Earl of Merioneth has clocked up nearly 103,000 miles since 1999. Since it was built in 1979 several design defects have shown up in the boiler and superstructure. The boiler of the same design fitted to Merddin Emrys has been heavily rebuilt but still has only 10 yrs life left in it. Very little of EoM can be re-used apart from the power bogies which are seen as 'pool spares'.
I think the F.R. have made the right decision to go for the 'retro' look for James Spooner - although some people appeared to like the rather brutal angular lines of EoM. I suppose it's like Marmite - you either love it or hate it!
Ray.