Tender-first operation for ‘County’

Following the milestone of wheeling the frames for replica ‘County’ No. 1014 at Didcot in August, the focus of attention has now shifted to completing its tender chassis - resurrecting more parts from ‘Barry Ten’ 4-6-0 No. 7927 Willington Hall in the process. The brake linkages from the donor ‘Modified Hall’ are now being cleaned and painted, with the two vacuum cylinders to be overhauled next. Project Manager Dicky Boast said that the aim is to have all the brake gear assembled before the fitting of the tender’s bottom plate, which is currently being welded. All the steel plate has already been acquired to build the Hawksworth 4,000gal tank, whose design was unique to the ‘Counties’ at 8ft 6in wide - 6in more than the Hawksworth tenders used behind the ‘Modified Halls’ and ‘Castles’. No. 1027 County of Stafford replenishes its 4,000gal Hawksworth tender at Chester circa 1963. RAIL PHOTOPRINTS/ JIM CARTER