Sir Lamiel ‘ backon the main line in 2023’ after overhaul
GREATCentral Railway- basedSouthern RailwayMaunsell N15 King Arthur 4- 6- 0 No. 777 Sir Lamiel is to be overhauled to main line standards under an agreement reachedbetweenowner the National RailwayMuseumand the Loughborough- based 5305 Locomotive Association.
Work on overhauling the locomotive, which last steamed in August 2017, is due to start at the GCR later this year and is scheduled to be completed in 2023.
Once the overhaul is finished, a second, five- year loan agreement will be negotiated to enable Sir Lamiel to be based at the GCR and to begin both main line tours and a schedule of appearances at heritage liness across the country.
During the overhaul, Sir Lamiel will be based at Loughborough, with work carried out by the 5305 Locomotive Association’s engineering team.
Identity
Theoverhaul will also see the locomotiveregain itsBR identityas No. 30777 andrepainted in lined- out BR Green with early crests on the tender, replacingthe current SouthernRailway malachitegreen.
Initial mechanical assessments have confirmed Sir Lamiel’s suitability for overhaul and the locomotive’s condition will be regularly assessed and appropriate repairs or replacements carried out as the overhaul progresses.
The association will finance initial work on the engine before launching a public fundraising campaign to raise the remaining £ 80,000 required.
Association chairman Alan BerckMay said:“We’re really proud to continue our association with Sir Lamiel and look forward toworking with colleagues at the NRM and the GCR as we undertake the overhaul.”
GCR managing director Michael Gough said: “Sir Lamiel has a memorable history at the Great Central and I amdelighted that 5305 has been able to conclude a deal with the NRM that suits everyone. Once its restoration is complete, No. 30777 will have a significant part to play in our home fleet, as well as its visits to other railways and the main line and I eagerly look forward to the daywhen it is steaming between Loughborough and Leicester once again.”
Partnership
NRMdirector JudithMcNicol said:“The 5305 Locomotive Association has a very strong track record of caring for Sir Lamiel which stretchesback almost 40 years and I look forwardtoworking with themand the GreatCentral
Railway as the projectprogresses.”
Robert Urie had designed the N15 two- cylinder 4- 6- 0 express passenger locomotives for the LSWR, and the first emerged from EastleighWorks in August 1918.
The Southern Railway’s new chief mechanical engineer Richard Maunsell was authorised to construct further N15s to meet an urgent demand.
His team improved Urie’s basic design, and a batch of 10 emerged from EastleighWorks as rebuilds of Dugald Drummond’s unsuccessful LSWR G14 and P14 4- 6- 0s.
However, a lack of capacity at the works saw a batch, including Sir Lamiel, which entered service in 1925, outsourced to Glasgow’s North British Locomotive Company.
The N15s were the first locomotives in Britain to be fitted with smoke deflectors.
The Southern Railway publicity department gave them names relating to Arthurian legends; Sir Lamiel of Cardiff was a minor knight of the Round Table.
Sir Lamiel operated on the Bournemouth and West of England services for most of its working life. It was withdrawn from traffic in 1961.
In the heritage era, it was stored at Fratton, then Stratford and Ashford, before being adopted in 1978 by the Humberside Locomotion Preservation Group, which first returned it to steam in 1982.