LEW REBORN AT WOODY BAY
L&B autumn steam event featured a number of ‘firsts’ for new-build Manning Wardle Lyd.
Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Manning Wardle 2-6-2T
No. E188 Lew ‘returned’ to Woody Bay for the first time since 1935 at the L&B’s autumn steam gala.
Visiting from the Ffestiniog Railway, replica L&B Manning Wardle 2-6-2T No. E190 Lyd took on the guise of the legendary lost locomotive for the September 28/29 event. It was the first time the engine has masqueraded as Lew, the engine after which it was modelled, since it was built in 2010. This meant it could recreate the sight of one of the original L&B Manning Wardle quartet running into Woody Bay for the first time since the railway closed in September 1935; and of Lew working over the route for the first time since the original engine helped dismantle the line during 1936, after which it was shipped to South America and lost.
Another ‘first’ at the gala was the premiere of the line’s five-coach train, following the delivery and successful testing of 1897-built six-compartment composite No. 5 earlier in the month (SR496/7). The full five-coach rake was tested behind the L&B’s updated replica of Baldwin 2-4-2T No. E762 Lyn on the day before the gala, and was hauled double-headed by both Lyn and Lew during the event itself – the longest trainto run on the L&B in preservation. Also in action were the railway’s resident Bagnall 0-4-2T ‘Isaac’, Kerr, Stuart ‘Joffre’ 0-6-0T ‘Axe’ and John Uphill’s freelance 0-4-2T Faith.
L&B Press Officer Tony Nicholson said: “Passenger numbers were good on Saturday, despite the mixed weather, but they were down on Sunday morning when it was pretty wet – although it cleared up in the afternoon.”
● Elsewhere, Bridges 54 and 55 on the extension to Blackmoor Gate and Wistlandpound are substantially complete, following the casting of the latter’s concrete bridge deck on September 16.
L&B Construction Design Group leader John Barton said: “When the concrete at both bridges has cured sufficiently, a waterproofing membrane and protective sheet will be applied. This will be followed by a layer of ballast leaving the bridges ready for track laying in the future.
“The main task outstanding is to complete the stone facing to the concrete. This has now commenced on Bridge 54, but it is a slow process because each stone is individually selected for size and fit.”