One step back, but two forward for Betton Grange
Having taken a step backwards in recent months with the enforced dismantling of its ‘bottom half’, GWR ‘Grange’ No. 6880 Betton Grange is striding forward again ‑ with its cylinders and bogie in place, the inside motion fitted, and a boiler soon to go on top. “It’s back to where it was ‑ and beyond,” commented Publicity Director Paul Appleton in late October, describing how the 6880 Betton Grange Society is now pulling out all the stops to have a ‘complete’‑looking ‘Grange’ on show at the NEC on November 26/27, for the Warley Model Railway Exhibition. With the misalignment of the axleboxes now corrected, the cylinders are permanently fixed in place, and the bogie has been refitted, along with the vacuum brake reservoir from ex‑Barry ‘Hall’ No. 5952 Cogan Hall. The fitting of the reverser weighshaft between the frames completes the inside motion, while on the outside, the coupling rods are refitted and the slidebar brackets mounted in place. In the cab, the wooden floor is being cut and fitted, and the metal chequer plate is in place. The slidebars themselves will also be fitted in time for Warley, as will the brake gear, while the installation of the pistons, valve rods and connecting rods will follow next year, once the pressure‑ testing of the cylinders has been done. But the most striking change in the locomotive’s appearance at the Warley show will be the Standard No. 1 boiler from Cogan Hall, which is to be cosmetically restored and placed in No. 6880’s frames as a template for shaping pipework. The £225,000 appeal to overhaul the boiler from ‘Modified Hall’ No. 7927 Willington Hall, for use on the ‘Grange’, was standing just short of £160,000 as this issue went to press. Tenders for the job are due to be received in mid‑November, with the contractor being appointed by the end of that month, and the target date for its completion being the end of April 2018. TV presenter Mark Evans, of Pet Rescue and restoration series Wreck Rescue, has agreed to become a public ambassador for the Betton Grange project, visiting the group’s directors and volunteers at Llangollen on October 15. The group has struck deals with model manufacturers to raise funds for No. 6880 ‑ assisting Masterpiece Models in the development of an ‘O’ gauge ‘Grange’ model, and commissioning a limited edition ‘O’ gauge wagon from Dapol in the livery of a local coal merchant E.E. Davies & Co. Expressions of interest are also being sought in an ‘N’ gauge model of No. 6880 by Dapol. Paul summed up: “The Warley exhibition is a great opportunity to showcase the locomotive in front of 15,000 visitors and should help to close the funding gap on the boiler. “By then, we will know who is overhauling the boiler from ‘Willington’, and 2018 is suddenly looking like a realistic possibility!”