IN THE WORKS
Returning Standard ‘2MT’ No. 78022 to steam at Haworth
After the Standard 4 Locomotive Preservation Society rescued its ‘4MT’ No. 75078 from Barry scrapyard in June 1972, it was able to return the Riddles 4‑6‑0 to steam on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in just five years, for a remarkably modest £10,000. Nearly three decades later, the locomotive began its third stint of preservation service in 2015 ‑ but only after its latest overhaul had soaked up just under £250,000. Unfazed, the group has now turned to the other BR Standard in its care, which also looks set to be an object lesson in the ever‑rising costs of keeping steam in operation. When ‘2MT’ 2‑6‑0 No. 78022 was purchased from Barry in June 1975 by Martyn Ashworth, Tony Walton, David Hanson and the Standard 4 Society, the price on the receipt was a mere £5,250 ‑ just before VAT was levied on all future locomotive sales by Woodham’s ‑ but around £70,000 had been spent on it by the time it steamed for the first time in preservation in 1992. Now, as its latest ‘heavy general’ starts in earnest, the hope is that the bottom line can be kept below the £200,000 mark.
It caused a bit of a stir. We tolerated it - but aesthetically, it looked dreadful Standard 4 Locomotive Preservation Society Secretary ROGER FRANCE
Optimistic outlook
The ‘baby Standard’ should cost less than its Class 4 counterpart thanks to its reasonably good condition, according to Society Secretary Roger France: “We did such a big job on it during the first restoration, we’re hoping for a fairly quick overhaul this time.” The tender, for instance, received a new tank and new tyres during the initial rebuild, so has only needed to be lifted off its wheels for an inspection of the Timken roller bearings; while the ‘bottom half’ of the locomotive, which is now stripped down in the works at Haworth, will require relatively minor ‘fettling’ and shimming of the axleboxes. One major renewal that is needed, however, is the fitting of new tyres to the driving and pony truck wheelsets by Ian Riley, who has also been contracted to carry out the boiler overhaul. The latter is expected to need “a fair amount of work,” says Roger: “There are concerns over cracks in the ‘shoulders’ of the firebox backhead, but we are awaiting the final investigation at Riley’s.”
It may not be well-known that No. 78022’s superheater elements had an extra lease of life in 2011, when they were loaned to No. 78019 after the latter suffered a failure - allowing it to appear at the ‘Stainmore 150’ celebrations at Kirkby Stephen that year. By then, No. 78022 had already been out of action for more than a decade, working right up until the last day of its boiler certificate on New Year’s Eve 2000. “I remember the day well, as I was the fireman,” says Roger, “and we finished in a blizzard, only just making the last service back to Oxenhope!” Somehow, this wintry, Snowdrift at Bleath Gill-esque episode seems an appropriate end to the ‘2MT’s’ eight years of stalwart service on the KWVR, where it fitted the line’s 1950s image to perfection. “It was a very reliable and well-liked engine,” says Roger, although its usefulness was tempered by its Class 2 power rating, which restricted it to five coaches on the steeply graded Oxenhope branch.
Gieslisation
An attempt was made to improve the engine’s performance in 1995 when, for a 12-month period, it was fitted with a Giesl ejector by society member and engineer Richard Gomersall. Having met Austrian engineer Dr Adolf GieslGieslingen, he wanted to carry on his work in developing steam traction, following in the footsteps of ‘9F’ No. 92250, ‘Battle of Britain’ No. 34064 Fighter Command, and (in preservation) ‘West Country’ No. 34092 City of Wells. It was a brave experiment, but a controversial one. When asked if he had anything to do with the Giesl ejector, Martyn Ashworth, who led the first restoration, replies with feeling: “No, I b **** y did not!” He adds: “It turned up at Loughborough many years later when we were restoring No. 78019 - and I jokingly said: ‘That’s going in the skip’. It gets everything far hotter than you need on a preserved railway.” “It caused a bit of a stir,” agrees Roger. “We tolerated it - but aesthetically, it looked dreadful. “The one fitted to City of Wells has been very successful, and there was some analysis done with No. 78022, which showed that there was a slight improvement in efficiency - but on a five-mile branch line, it didn’t really make much difference. “The Giesl would tend to keep pulling the thin fire on the downhill run, which meant that it would catch out unwary firemen who were not concentrating - you could arrive at Keighley with plenty of steam on the clock but almost no fire left!”
The green lobby
There are no plans this time round to refit the stark oblong chimney, but when No. 78022 emerges from the works which Roger says “we’d like to think could take place in about two years” - it could still present a very different appearance. The society is considering breaking with the long-standing Haworth tradition of lined black - and scoring a preservation first by painting the ‘2MT’ in BR green. No. 78022 itself never carried this colour scheme - but most (and possibly all) of those allocated to the Western Region (Nos. 78000-9) received it as they passed through Swindon Works in the late 1950s and early 1960s, albeit latterly without lining as an economy measure. However, none of these engines made it into preservation - so No. 78022 would be the first ‘Standard 2’ to be seen in green for nearly 50 years, since the last ex-WR example, No. 78007, was withdrawn from Bolton shed in May 1967. With No. 78018 now back in steam after 50 years, and No. 78019’s overhaul well under way, it won’t be too long before all three preserved examples are ‘in ticket’ together - perhaps a reunion can be arranged? But a Cambrian-esque green example might cut the most striking dash of them all.