LYNTON & BARNSTAPLE RAILWAY MANNING WARDLE 2-6-2TS Nos. 759 YEO AND 760 EXE
Group: 762 Club Project formed: 2018 Project cost: £1.1 million Raised to date: £41,000 (approx. £100,000 pledged) Estimated completion date: 2023/4 Location: Boston Lodge, Ffestiniog Railway and ‘Workshop X’, Derbyshire
The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway’s updated replica Baldwin 2-4-2T No. E762 Lyn (completed in September 2017) is rightly regarded as one of preservation’s great achievements, but it will always be overshadowed by the locomotives with which the railway is synonymous – the Manning Wardle 2-6-2Ts.
It’s good news then that the railway is building two of these emblematic engines: Nos. E759 Yeo and E760 Exe.
The reason for building two L&B Manning Wardles concurrently is twofold. Firstly, the Ffestiniog Railway’s 2010-built No. E190
Lyd (an updated replica of 1925-built L&B 2-6-2T No. E188 Lew) is unlikely ever to leave its Porthmadog home on a permanent basis. Secondly, unlike many newbuild projects, there is a genuine operational need for the two new locomotives, as the railway will need to expand its operational fleet when it extends 4½ miles to Blackmoor and Wistlandpound. Lyn’s recent performances on the Welsh Highland Railway have shown it is more than up to the job, but with the majority of the rest of the fleet not powerful enough, it cannot provide the intended level of service alone.
With the L&B committed to recreating the railway as authentically as possible, what’s more appropriate than replicas of two engines actually designed to work the line?
The catalyst for building Yeo and Exe came in March 2018, when Exmoor National Park Authority granted planning permission for the L&B to rebuild the line from its current Killington Lane terminus to Blackmoor (the section to Wistlandpound had already been granted planning permission in June 2016). The Manning Wardle project was formally launched in September that year at the Autumn Steam Gala, where the first components – the name and number plates, sponsored by Steam Railway
– were on display.
Yeo and Exe are expected to cost around £500,000 each, and will not only benefit from the drawings, patterns and experience gained from building Lyd, but also economies of scale by building additional components for further replicas of No. E761 Taw and Lew, meaning that a full complement of Manning Wardles is in prospect for the future. Furthermore, as the L&B Trust owns the Manning Wardle & Company trademark, Yeo and
Exe will be genuine Manning Wardle products (Works Nos. 2048 and 2049 respectively).
As the railway has neither the capacity nor resources to build the engines,
Yeo will be built at ‘Workshop X’ in Killamarsh, Derbyshire (where the replica NWNGR single Fairlie Gowrie will also be built, see next page), and Exe at Boston Lodge on the Ffestiniog Railway.
Liveries have yet to be decided, but Yeo could appear in early Southern Railway livery; effectively the later L&B green livery with a Southern-style brass cabside numberplate.
Things have been quiet since the project’s launch, with work focusing on design and fundraising. £23,000 and £18,000 in ring-fenced funds are already in the bank for Yeo and Exe respectively, although a total of approximately £100,000 has been committed via the monthly donation scheme.
Meanwhile, Lyd project founder James Evans has been checking the various patterns used for No. E190 in order to ascertain what remedial work is needed before they are reused for Nos. 759 and 760. Jon Pain, director of the 762 Club, which is raising funds for the engines, says: “There are also a number of potential revisions to the design of Lyd which should be incorporated into our Manning Wardle production. These have been listed and consideration is being given to the desirability of each and every suggestion.
“At the same time, there are many updated features included on Lyn, and it makes sense to see which of those can be included on our future new-builds.”
Funds permitting, physical construction work could begin early next year, and if a substantial revenue stream is maintained, Yeo and Exe could appear in four to five years’ time, ready to start work on a newly extended Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.
For more information, and to contribute to the Manning Wardles project, visit www.762club.com