Bahamas to launch at ‘tyseley 50’ extravaganza
september show will also bring together four Collett ‘Castles’ at Birmingham workshop.
Four ‘Castles’ and two ‘Jubilees’ will be the stars of Tyseley’s September open weekend. Organised to mark 50 years since the first public event at the former 84E shed, the September 29/30 showcase will mark the in-steam debut of double-chimney ‘Jubilee’ No. 45596 Bahamas following the completion of its major overhaul at Tyseley Locomotive Works (TLW). It is planned that Bahamas will return to its Ingrow base on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway following the event, although precise timescales have yet to be decided on (see Down Main, p54). The locomotive will be turned out in its final BR green guise, juxtaposed by LMS Crimson Lake resident classmate No. 5593 Kolhapur, which will be posed alongside the Heritage Lottery Fund-supported ‘5XP’.
Like Kolhapur, Collett 4-6-0 No. 7029 Clun Castle was one of the first locomotives to be exhibited at Tyseley when it held its first open day in September 1968 and will be the workshops’ insteam talisman for the half-century landmark event.
‘Clun’ will be flanked by its Birmingham stablemates Nos. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe and 5080 Defiant (both awaiting overhaul), together with imminent ‘4073’ arrival, No. 7027 Thornbury Castle.
The latter engine, owned by Weston-super-Mare-based businessman Jon Jones-Pratt, will be restored from its scrapyard condition by TLW following the completion of his ‘Hall’ No. 4936 Kinlet Hall, which is undergoing overhaul.
The September show will also mark a last in-steam appearance by ‘8750’ 0-6-0PT No. 9600 prior to the expiry of its boiler certificate, while London Transport ‘57XX’ pannier No. L94 is to return from its summer hire to the Dartmouth Steam Railway in time to feature. Tyseley is also working to bring in two visiting locomotives for the weekend, but confirmation of these was still awaited as Steam Railway went to print in early August.
●● For more on ‘Tyseley 50’, see pages 42-46.