Home at last: Canadian Pacific returns to MidHants for completion
FRIDAY, April 26 was not only the start of the Mid-Hants Railway’s spring steam gala (see News, pages 12/13), but also its flagship locomotive, SR Merchant Navy class 4-6-2 No. 35005 Canadian Pacific, finally returned to Alresford after more than a decade in the former SR works buildings at Eastleigh depot.
Having initially arrived in 2011 for dry storage, work to overhaul the chassis commenced there in 2013, and a Heritage Lottery Fund grant being was awarded to the project in 2015.
With the boiler being overhauled at Ropley, recent attempts to bring the chassis home were thwarted following a weight restriction imposed on a bridge over the adjacent main line that needed to be crossed to exit the depot.
Alternative options were explored, including departure through a different part of the site, but fell through. However, following recent repair work to strengthen the structure, an exemption was granted to enable the required road movement to go ahead. The chassis departed Eastleigh on April 28 and was unloaded at the MHR the next morning.
Operations manager Richard Bentley said: “We are very grateful to Network Rail and Arlington Fleet Services for their support throughout this process. We were hopeful it would be home in time for the gala, but we deliberately didn’t say anything as we didn’t want to build up expectations. The fact it just about made it meant it was a welcome surprise late addition for all.
“Having Canadian Pacific back home will make the overhaul much easier. It’s gone from a two-hour round trip from our works and offices to check measurements to a two-minute walk, and this puts us in a better position to complete the work.
“We have some checks to do on the chassis first, but the tender is ready, and the boiler is almost in a position to be hydraulically tested, so it is almost a reassembly job now. We’ll need to lay everything out to check what’s been done, what still needs doing, and to identify any missing components.
“While I would like to say it could be back in time for the autumn gala or even Christmas, we won’t commit to any timescales as we want to get the job done and done right. It’s very much going to be a ‘finished when it’s finished’ project.”