WE NEED MORE ENGINES
They’re the final pieces of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway’s revival but, at last, this legendary narrow gauge line is ready to build two Manning Wardle 2-6-2Ts of its very own.
The project to build two more Lynton & Barnstaple Manning Wardle 2-6-2Ts
September 30 2017 was a milestone in the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway’s history. It was the day that replica Baldwin 2-4-2T No. 762 Lyn was officially launched into traffic, realising the line’s long-held dream of fielding a complete L&B train of its own undertaking. Standing on the platform at Woody Bay, with the railway’s unique American-designed locomotive coupled to detailed reconstructions of four of the line’s coaches, against the timeless backdrop of Exmoor, it was as if time had stood still for the last 82 years. One could imagine that the line hadn’t closed in 1935, and that the station, locomotive and rolling stock had been perfectly preserved in aspic.
So perfect was this re-creation that it was hard to believe that the track had been ripped up all those years ago, or that Lyn was ignominiously scrapped, or that the station had lain derelict for decades before the preservationists took over and restored it to something akin to its former glory.
Even ten years ago, when the line was running with a motley assortment of industrial locomotives and any rolling stock it could lay its hands on, it was hard to believe that such a re-creation would be possible.
Yet there it was, in the flesh, arguably for the first time in living memory. It was one of preservation’s finest achievements.
But there was one thing missing. A Manning Wardle. These emblematic 2-6-2Ts are as synonymous with the L&B as the Vale of Rheidol tanks are to the Aberystwyth-Devil’s Bridge line. Think L&B and you think Manning Wardles.
Of course a replica does exist in the form of Ffestiniog-based No. E190 Lyd, which has visited the North Devon line on a number of occasions and has run with the line’s L&B rolling stock. Furthermore, on September 29/30 this year, Lyd will be united with Lyn at the L&B’s Autumn Gala – the first time that these two classic L&B designs have worked together since 1935.
But once the festivities have drawn to a close, the olive green tank engine will be packed up and taken back to its home in North Wales, once again leaving the L&B without a Manning Wardle to call its own.
POWERING UP
That is all set to change. On March 6, the Exmoor National Park Authority granted the L&B planning permission to extend from its current terminus at Killington Lane to Blackmoor (see SR478). The railway already had planning permission to extend further to Wistlandpound reservoir (SR456), which will make the L&B 5½ miles long and a somewhere-to-somewhere railway for the first time.
Therefore, the line’s motive power stable will have to grow with the railway, and to cater for the longer running line and
increased traffic, the L&B wants – needs – a fleet of more powerful locomotives to supplement (and complement) the Baldwin.
So what could be more appropriate than a Manning Wardle 2-6-2T? Such a proposal has been on the drawing board for a long time, but now the railway – which is on the verge of the biggest expansion in its history – is ready to launch its project to finally build not one but two of these famous locomotives: Nos. 759 Yeo and 760 Exe.
This isn’t another pie-in-the-sky scheme to replicate an extinct locomotive design for which there is no operational need; the Manning Wardles are very much necessary – not only for the soon-to-be-extended L&B, but also for the proposed future expansion to both Lynton and Barnstaple.
The L&B has always been run with the intention of recreating
THE L&B HAS ALWAYS BEEN RUN WITH THE INTENTION OF RECREATING THE OLD LINE. NO RESURRECTION OF THE L&B WOULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT THESE LOCOMOTIVES
the old line as accurately and completely as possible, and no resurrection of the L&B would be complete without these locomotives. What’s more, the originals were actually designed for the railway, so what could be better?
The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust now also owns the rights to the name ‘Manning Wardle’, obtained in 2017 from the shareholders after an ill-fated revival some years ago. And so Yeo and Exe will be the first pair of genuine Manning Wardle locomotives built in Britain since the firm was taken over by Kitson & Co. in 1926.
FIRST STEPS
Steam Railway has already helped get the ball rolling by sponsoring the locomotives’ name and numberplates, and these first components will be on display at Woody Bay at the forthcoming gala in late September.
But as work on extending the line is still years away – the railway still needs a Transport & Works Act Order, as well as several million in funds – why is the Manning Wardle project being launched now?
The best person to answer that question is L&B Trust Chairman Peter Miles: “Building a steam locomotive would take about four years if all goes well. The reconstruction of the next phase of the railway – Phase IIA, which takes us to Blackmoor and Wistlandpound – may take four to five years. Starting now should mean that Yeo and Exe will be ready in perfect time.”
None of this will be cheap. Peter estimates that it will cost £1.1m to build both Nos. 759 and 760, but building two locomotives at the same time will mean the project can benefit from economies of scale. After all, it is cheaper to cast two pairs of cylinders than a one-off set, although “the castings may well include five sets of cylinders”, Peter muses. Could replicas of Nos. 761 Taw and 188 Lew be in the offing as well?
Yes. But not just yet. Peter says: “We intend to have four Manning Wardles, and the fully rebuilt railway will require sufficient locomotives anyway, so you can expect to see Taw and Lew in due course.”
The plan is for Yeo and Exe to be outshopped in the later body style, introduced between 1903 and 1913 when the original front cab extensions were removed and the cab was moved back so the rear sheet covered the bunker, creating a graceful and unique rear end. Liveries have also yet to be decided, but it is suggested that Yeo could appear in early Southern Railway livery (which was L&B green livery with a Southern-style brass cabside numberplate), and Exe in “something else”, which, says Peter “would be nice”. Yeo will also appear with the very same chimney from the original locomotive (removed in the late 1920s) and an original Manning Wardle pressure gauge, which has already been restored and overhauled.
In this respect, Yeo is much like the reproduction L&B carriages, which have been resurrected incorporating original – albeit sometimes minor – material.
As with Lyn, Yeo and Exe won’t be built at or by the railway. It’s planned that Yeo will be constructed at Killamarsh in Derbyshire, where ex-War Department Light Railways Hunslet 4-6-0T No. 1215 has recently been restored and where the replica North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways 1908 Hunslet-built single Fairlie 0-6-4T Gowrie is to be built.
Exe is likely to be built in more familiar surroundings, at Boston Lodge on the Ffestiniog Railway, where its forebear Lyd was outshopped in 2010, although specific details of who will do what, where and when remain to be confirmed.
Lyd has proven to be a useful trailblazer for the forthcoming Manning Wardles, as they will be utilising that locomotive’s drawings and patterns. Although Lyd has given its successors a good head start compared to other new-build projects,
construction cannot start until the railway has sufficient funds and the drawings have been converted to Computer Aided Design. Yet, this is not the first time that the L&B has started building a Manning Wardle. In 1999, work started on building a replica of Yeo, and got as far as cutting and assembling the frames before work ceased.
Peter explains: “One reason the L&B stopped work on Yeo was that it made sense to see how Lyd fared and if the design worked. There have been some alterations to the design in the light of experience and these will be incorporated into the L&B’s engines. “Essentially, our four Manning Wardles will be identical to Lyd and include a number of later modifications, as far as they work with L&B practices.”
It is unlikely that the existing frames for Yeo will be used, partly because they’ve been relocated many times in the last 20 years and may not still be usable, and partly because “we wish to have 100% commonality with standardised parts. This will greatly improve maintenance and spares holdings in the future and be a major contribution to easier overhauls and less downtime.”
OUR FOUR MANNING WARDLES WILL BE IDENTICAL TO LYD AND INCLUDE A NUMBER OF LATER MODIFICATIONS, AS FAR AS THEY WORK WITH L&B PRACTICES
PROPER JOB
All this is indicative of the L&B’s approach to resurrecting the line. This may be an enthusiast’s dream, and the ‘last narrow gauge adventure’ in Britain, but like the scheme to rebuild the Welsh Highland Railway whose template the L&B closely follows, this is being done properly and professionally. Everything is being done for a reason, with a business head ruling an enthusiast’s heart, and the attitude is one of ‘if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly.’
In order to pay for both Nos. 759 and 760, the L&B will continue with the 762 Club, which was formed in 2009 to raise funds for Lyn, as “all the charitable status, VAT registration, Gift Aid registration etc are already in place,” explains Peter, and the same method of membership and sponsorship of components is envisaged.
But what will become of the line’s other motive power once Yeo, Exe and Lyn are all running? Currently, the L&B also uses Bagnall 0-4-2T Works No. 3023 ‘Isaac’ and Kerr Stuart ‘Joffre’ 0-6-0T Works No. 2451 ‘Axe’ on its trains. Will they be ousted once the replica L&B locomotives are operational?
Peter says: “Well, ‘Axe’ is not really designed for a long, passenger-carrying railway. However, she may have a useful role to play and we have no plans to dispose of it. ‘Isaac’ is privately owned and we would hope she will remain on the L&B; it is a very useful engine.”
But as useful an engine as ‘Isaac’ may be, it can never compete with a pair of Lynton & Barnstaple Manning Wardles and, providing the support and funding are there, in five years’ time enthusiasts will witness a pair of new Lynton & Barnstaple Manning Wardle 2-6-2Ts working alongside Lyn on a five-and-ahalf-mile stretch of railway.
If that won’t rank as one of preservation’s finest achievements, not much else will.