‘PATRIOT’ BOILER HALTED AS LNWR ENDS CONTRACT WORK

Staff shortages mean that Crewe will no longer be taking on third-party jobs.

Ashortage of boilersmiths has forced LNWR Heritage to cease contract work - notably the construction of the boiler for ‘Patriot’ The Unknown Warrior. The Crewe workshop - acquired by the Royal Scot Locomotive & General Trust in 2014 - is ending outside jobs to concentrate on the organisation’s steam fleet - a move foreshadowed by the decision in 2015 not to take on Duke of Gloucester’s overhaul (SR445). Riveting of the ‘Patriot’s’ copper inner firebox and the welding of the steel outer throatplate will be done by the end of June, after which a new contractor must be found. Within three days of being informed of the decision on May 9, the LMS Patriot Project had contacted “around a dozen” possible new contractors, said Chairman David Bradshaw. It is considered “highly likely that there will be some delays in completing the boiler”, but when asked whether it could affect the ‘Patriot’s target steaming date - November 11 2018, to mark the centenary of the Armistice Mr Bradshaw replied that it would be “impossible to say” until the new contractor is appointed. Other boilers on which work will cease are those of ex-Barry single-chimney ‘9F’ 2-10-0 No. 92134 (based at the East Lancashire Railway), and the Great Western Society’s replica ‘County’ 4-6-0 No. 1014 County of Glamorgan. The overhaul of the firebox from ‘8F’ 2-8-0 No. 48518 for the latter is almost complete - but Crewe will not now be attaching the newly rolled barrel as originally intended. A fourth locomotive affected is from Switzerland - Brienz Rothorn Bahn 0-4-2T No. 7, whose boiler came to LNWR for overhaul in 2014 (SR447). As in the case of the ‘Duke’s’ move to Tyseley, LNWR will pay the costs of transferring the boilers to their new contractors. Trustee Peter Greenwood told Steam Railway: “The bottom line is we can’t cope with the workload because of the loss of staff.” “Four members of the boiler shop have left - which is nearly a quarter of the workforce. “We’re probably going to lose more because of retirement - and something had to give.” The skills shortage has already halted the overhaul of the spare boiler for ‘A4’ No. 4464 Bittern, while newly acquired ‘Black Five’ No. 45231 has had its boiler lifted for repairs to cracks in the firebox throatplate. Nunney Castle’s boiler has also required “far more work than anticipated,” while ‘A2’ No. 60532 Blue Peter needs heavy boiler repairs and a new middle cylinder. Mr Greenwood says the organisation is “down to the bare minimum” of boilersmiths - although he adds: “We’ve no problem on the mechanical side. “Having downsized the business, we’ll review the situation and consider what we feel is sufficient.” Asked whether the firm would consider returning to contract work, he said: “You can never say never - but we certainly won’t be doing it in the near future.”

THE BOTTOM LINE IS QUITE SIMPLE - WE CAN’T COPE WITH THE WORKLOAD BECAUSE OF THE LOSS OF STAFF PETER GREENWOOD