❖ ‘Sutherland’ returns to steam
Stanier ‘Duchess’ overhauled in less than a year – but £50,000 needed for new tyres.
Duchess of Sutherland has steamed for the first time in 2018.
The Stanier ‘Pacific’ underwent an impromptu £150,000 overhaul after it was withdrawn with cracked boiler tubes at the end of its 2017 main line operating season.
The work has been undertaken by the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust’s West Shed staff and volunteer team at Swanwick and finished off in LMS Crimson Lake by specialist contractor Heritage Painting. It marks a return to ‘Sutherland’s’ as-built 1938 livery for the first time since 2009. Since then, it has carried LMS black and BR green. Duchess of Sutherland last turned a wheel in anger on the October 10 2017 ‘Cathedrals Express’ between Hanwell and Gloucester, after which the discovery of 21 cracked flue tubes led to the decision to bring its ‘ten-yearly’ overhaul forward by four years (SR476), although work did not get under way in earnest until February. The engine had notched up an average of 8,000 miles per year since its previous 2012 repair. All of the ‘8P’s’ stay nuts, superheater elements, flues and small tubes have been renewed. Included in the £150,000 expenditure, £40,000 was used to buy new tooling, which will also enable the trust to avoid contract labour for some tasks in future. After a planned public unveiling at the PRCLT’s Midland Railway – Butterley base on September 9, No. 6233 is due to make three railway gala appearances and haul five main line railtours before the end of the year (see panel). However, its forthcoming running stint will be brief, as No. 6233 is to be withdrawn again this winter for the replacement of its BR-era tyres, which are near the scrapping threshold.
“It needs to earn money if we want to see it in 2019,” Chief Engineer Simon Scott told
Steam Railway. £50,000 will be required to fit the tyres (already in stock) at Riley & Son (E) Ltd, while there is also scheduled work outstanding on the axleboxes and replacement of platework in the tender coal space.
Mr Scott hopes that the ‘Pacific’ will only be absent “for a few months”. ●● Hot on the heels of the ‘Duchess’ will be the return of PRCLT Standard ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No. 80080 after overhaul in September. It is contracted for running at the East Lancs Railway for the next five years. Classmate No. 80098 could also return in that timeframe, if money for its rebuild can be sourced. Plans to return the group’s flagship No. 46203 Princess Margaret Rose to steam are on hold unless £1 million can be raised. A Heritage Lottery Fund application has been ruled out.