LIVING WITH… ‘J27’ No. 65894
Celebrating the long-awaited return to steam of a North Eastern workhorse
It’s back. As you’re reading this, a barking two-cylinder beat will be echoing across North Eastern hills once again, as the last surviving ‘J27’ returns to action at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway after an absence of over a decade. On April 27, outside Grosmont shed, No. 65894 moved under its own power for the first time since 2006, marking the culmination of the locomotive’s most extensive overhaul in preservation and its return after 12 years on the sidelines. The comeback of this humble North Eastern six-coupled goods engine is, in many ways, a pivotal moment – not only for the railway with which its preservation history is inextricably intertwined, but also for the engine’s owners, the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group. No. 65894 was the first locomotive that NELPG saved for preservation, and it was from this small seed that one of the movement’s most prominent locomotive groups grew. The ‘J27’ last steamed on May 29 2006, at an event in Darlington celebrating the 40th anniversary of the closure of North Road Works. Shortly after, the 0-6-0 was displayed in the nearby Head of Steam Museum before moving across the site into NELPG’s shed at Hopetown Works. There it shared a roof with new-build ‘A1’ No. 60163 Tornado, and as a measure of how long it has been since No. 65894 last steamed, the Peppercorn ‘Pacific’ was still under construction and two years away from steaming when the ‘J27’ bowed out. In the intervening years, Tornado has travelled all over the country, been overhauled and become the first British steam locomotive to do an authenticated ‘ton’ since the 1960s – all in the time that it has taken NELPG to overhaul its pioneering steed. But good things come to those who wait, and the return of the ‘J27’ has certainly been worth waiting for. And if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly.
THOROUGH JOB
The latest overhaul of No. 65894 has been thorough – and expensive. NELPG Secretary Chris Lawson estimates that it has cost over £450,000 to put the ‘J27’ through its most recent ‘heavy general’, with nearly half that – £200,000 to be exact – being spent on the boiler alone. One wonders how Wilson Worsdell – the man who designed the original NER ‘P3s’ – would have reacted knowing the last survivor of his class had its boiler overhauled in the town of one of Darlington’s great railway rivals, Crewe. Nevertheless, the engineers have performed, arguably, the most extensive boiler overhaul the locomotive has received since it was initially restored, with a new copper firebox tubeplate, smokebox wrapper and door, as well as major repairs to the front tubeplate. It has also undergone a full re-tube, the firebox has been fitted with new stays and cracks in the firebox sidesheet have been welded up. The NER CME would no doubt have been happier that the rest of the overhaul was carried out by NELPG volunteers at its Hopetown base, before the locomotive moved back to the NYMR in February this year, where its overhaul has been completed. Aside from the boiler, the other major expenditure has been on a new cylinder block, after repairs to a long-standing crack became life-expired. Replacing it has cost an estimated £50,000. The cylinders are not all that’s new, as the ‘J27’ has had a new tender tank made by Adam Dalgleish Engineering Ltd – now Northern Steam Engineering – in Stocktonon-Tees. Corrosion on the front third of the tender frame plates has been repaired and strengthening plates added, while steps have been fitted to the rear of the tank to improve access. Other benefits for the driver and fireman, a mechanical lubricator, rocking grate and hopper ashpan, have also been fitted. Elsewhere, the bottom halves of the cabside sheets have been renewed, a new rear bufferbeam fitted, one driving wheel tyre has been replaced while the others have been re-profiled, and the lefthand side connecting rod has been straightened. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the locomotive has already had a few alterations to its original design to make this former freight engine suitable for passenger work. No. 65894 now sports a vacuum ejector and steam heating apparatus – items alien to a locomotive that only ever previously hauled loose-coupled coal trains. All in all, the ‘J27’ is arguably in the best shape it has been since it left Darlington North Road Works on September 19 1923. Over 50 years since it unintentionally became a symbol of steam’s defiance in the face of modernisation, the last remaining ‘J27’ has returned to the livery it carried in the dying days of North Eastern steam – BR unlined black. This was voted for by NELPG members and as the next vote won’t be held until the next major overhaul, it will be a long time before it returns to perhaps its most familiar preservation guise as NER ‘P3’ No. 2392.
HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE
So what’s it like handling the ‘J27’ over one of Britain’s most challenging preserved railways? The man to ask is Terry Newman, one of the NYMR’s longest serving drivers and firemen, and a man whose relationship with No. 65894 stretches back over 50 years. During the last days of North Eastern steam, Terry and a friend spent their days trainspotting, trying to see as much as possible before it all came to an end. “During the longer summer days we would photograph from the lineside after work. Coal trains hauled by WDs, ‘K1s’, ‘Q6s’ and ‘J27s’ would come down the coast to Billingham where they were looped; the engine ran round and then travelled down the Haverton Hill line to either ICI or North Tees Power Station. “While the locomotive ran round, we asked the guard if we could have a ride with him. A surprising ‘yes’ was the answer. We did this a couple of times and then one of the guards said ‘Would you prefer to go on the loco?’ “‘Can we do that!?’ We did; the first trip of many, which included all the classes above. I have to say that Sunderland South Dock men took to us quite readily, especially when rewarded with
bottles of Newcastle Brown or Vaux beer. Hartlepool men were more reluctant!” Terry was encouraged to join the nascent NELPG by one of its founding members, Peter Proud, with whom he would enjoy a number of footplate trips. Terry says: “I was lucky to footplate the ‘J27’ on the Thursday of the final week of steam in the North East in September 1967 and, by pure chance, the [now preserved] ‘Q6’ on the Friday with the same crew.” This was the start of a long love affair with the ‘J27s’ and No. 65894 in particular. He was there at the National Coal Board’s workshops in Philadelphia during the initial restoration and, after passing out as a fireman at the burgeoning NYMR, was on the shovel when it hauled the line’s official reopening train on May 1 1973, double-headed with Lambton Collieries 0-6-2T No. 29. Terry recalls firing the 0-6-0 during the NYMR’s official reopening. “It was an easy engine to fire, but there was a bit of blowing off at first due to over-enthusiastic firing and being a little scared of running out of steam up the 1-in-49 to Goathland. I soon learned to run the fire down towards the end of the day (it was known to lose steam before getting back on shed – very embarrassing).” So, what is a ‘J27’ like to work on in everyday service? “The cab is quite tight, as below the fireman’s seat is a step the same length as the seat, yet for a crew of two it is comfortable, with a well-enclosed cab. “The driver either sits on a similar seat or stands on what is basically a shelf, but there is good vision through the front spectacle window. A typical NER firehole door is shielded by an anti-glare screen with a folding middle section which looks like the folding top of a fryer in a fish and chip shop. You can cook bacon and eggs on the shovel, but don’t expect a nice portion of fish and chips! “The anti-glare screen protects your legs from the heat, and it also enables both the driver and fireman to have reasonable night vision, something which is very important when trying to sight signals in the darkness. “The fireman’s wooden bench seat is comfortable enough, but a little hard on the bottom. Some firemen take a cushion.”
MAKING THe GRADe
A run up the 1-in-49 bank from Grosmont to Goathland takes careful preparation and, despite being a Class 4, the ‘J27’ is limited to five coaches on this difficult stretch. “The fireman makes the back end up to the bottom of the firehole door without making too much smoke and tops up the boiler to just below the top nut [of the gauge glass]. With a round-topped firebox, filling higher than this can cause priming when working hard.”
Departing from Platform 4 “is the hardest, as it crosses pointwork twice and the resulting snaking of the train causes drag. If there is any dampness, this is where slipping occurs. “In the meantime, the fireman checks the train leaving the station, then casts a quick glance around the cab before entering the tunnel. Usually it’s quite comfortable and the end of the tunnel can be seen, however when there is a following wind the cab can be enveloped in smoke and steam – and we keep our fingers crossed, hoping that no slipping occurs and the train keeps moving forward up the grade and into daylight. “The reverser will now have been pulled up to notch three (about 45% cut-off) and the regulator will be teased into the second valve for some acceleration on this straight to Esk Valley cottages where the line steepens to 1-in-49. In the meantime, the fireman will have started putting on his first round of six to eight shovels of coal, checked the water level and watched to see how the steam pressure is responding. “If everything is OK on reaching the cottages and the change in gradient, the driver will probably open the regulator more to keep the speed at around 15mph, maybe a little less. Most drivers will then not touch anything until the arrival at Goathland and let the ‘J27’ feel its own way up the hill. “Returning to Grosmont will be tender-first, the driver standing on his ‘shelf’ can see clearly over the tender. “During its first full overhaul, our then CME Maurice Burns modified the piston valves from one broad ring per head to a more modern four narrow rings per head. This keeps the valve tighter in the bore and helps to improve the efficiency of the front end. “No. 65894 was originally superheated and this was changed by BR to a saturated boiler on its final visit to Darlington works. The ‘Q6’ [No. 63395] still has the broad rings, but as it has much more power, is superheated, and steams like a witch, there is little cause to change the design. Following its most recent overhaul and initial steam test, Terry was “in the right place at the right time to take the regulator again for a short spin from the NYMR running shed to the NELPG’s Deviation Shed and return to prove whether everything is OK or not – there are always snagging jobs to do!”
sIDesHOW – FOR NOW
What now for No. 65894? By the time you read this it should have returned – or be about to return – to traffic, but don’t expect to see it in everyday service. The ‘J27’ currently shares shed space with single-chimney ‘9F’ No. 92134 – the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s latest acquisition (see SR479). It may be big by 0-6-0 standards, but the North Eastern veteran is a relative minnow compared to the Riddles 2-10-0.
With 18 miles of running line (24 if you include the section to Whitby), some of the fiercest gradients in preservation and evergrowing visitor numbers, the NYMR needs big engines to cope with demand. No. 65894 is limited to five coaches and is likely to be used only in the shoulders of the line’s main running season. That situation will remain the status quo during the ‘J27’s’ current boiler ticket, and during the peak summer season it should be available for hire to other railways. There are no firm visits planned yet, but NELPG will soon begin discussions with the Wensleydale Railway about possibly sending it there this summer. It might have been one of the first NYMR engines to travel to Whitby in 1998, but there are currently no plans to return the ‘J27’ to the national network. NYMR General Manager Chris Price says: “As it is not fitted with the equipment to enable the locomotive to run to Whitby, I do not see this as likely. If NELPG were to consider this investment, and to carry out the required legislative requirements, then we would give it serious thought.” Appropriately, the locomotive that will shortly follow No. 65894 out of the shed at Grosmont is NELPG’s second engine – ‘Q6’ No. 63395. These two have been partners in crime ever since they became two of the last pre-Grouping designs in BR service. Like No. 65894, the Raven-design 0-8-0 will be turned out in BR guise; both engines recalling their final years of hauling coal trains around County Durham and Northumberland. That these two NELPG stalwarts are returning to steam on the railway that’s been their home for the last four decades appears to be an inspired piece of foresight, but their almost simultaneous return to service is more by accident than design. It had been planned for both engines to be in steam to help NELPG celebrate two very important occasions – the 50th anniversaries of the formation of the group and the end of North Eastern Region steam in 2016 and 2017 respectively – but as is often the way with steam engines, things didn’t stick to the script. Chris Lawson says: “Winter maintenance on No. 63395 started at the end of December 2016 but ended up being a full overhaul as the boiler inspector agreed that it’d be best to replace the superheater elements, carry out a full re-tube and internal examination, followed by a subsequent full external examination in the next winter, with a view to issuing a new boiler ticket to 2028. “We wanted to have the ‘J27’ running last season, so it means we’ve had a year without income from either engine and lots of expenditure, so the board of trustees was very keen to get both the ‘Q6’ and ‘J27’ up and running this year.” Joining them on the NYMR later this year is another locomotive with both North Eastern and coal-haulage heritage – ‘Lambton tank’ No. 29. A faithful re-enactment of the re-opening train is again possible, paired with No. 65894 once more and tackling the famous old climb to Goathland.