4709 TO BE WHEELED THIS SUMMER – RUNNING IN 2022?
A target completion date of 2022 has been set for the Great Western Society’s ‘47XX’ No. 4709, with its frames to be wheeled this summer. All four 5ft 8in driving wheelsets (three from ‘Barry Ten’ GWR ‘Large Prairie’ No. 4115 and one new) and the pony truck wheelset (also from No. 4115) were scheduled for delivery to the engine’s Llangollen construction base, from South Devon Railway Engineering, in February. Contracts are to be placed “imminently” for the restoration of the pony truck axleboxes (from No. 4115) and the driving axleboxes (from ‘5205’ 2-8-0T No. 5227), while grinding of the axlebox horn guides is under way, using a machine jointly designed and produced with Llangollen Railway Engineering. Project Engineer Paul Carpenter is also seeking volunteers to help restore a Collett 4,000-gallon tender for the locomotive at Didcot; email p.carpenter100@btinternet.com For more details or to donate, contact GWS Chairman Richard Croucher at Didcot Railway Centre, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 7NJ, email chairman@ didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk or visit www.4709.org.uk