RUGBY-THEMED APPEAL FOR UNIQUE WELSH VALLEY TANK
Gwili group kicks off restoration project for Taff Vale Railway 0-6-2T No. 28 and matching train.
A£160,000 appeal to return National Collection Taff Vale Railway 0-6-2T No. 28 to steam at the Gwili Railway was officially launched on St David’s Day.
The Welsh Railways Trust, formed last summer through a merger of the Gwili Vintage Carriage Group and the Caerphilly Railway Society, is the new custodian of the unique surviving ‘O1’ class locomotive on loan from the National Railway Museum – and aims to return it to steam by 2025 to haul a vintage ‘Welsh Train’ of TVR carriages.
In a nod to the engine’s Welsh Valleys origins, the appeal has been given a rugby theme, with the first two elements, ‘The Kick-Off’ and ‘The Grand Slam’, going live on March 1.
‘The Kick-Off’ aims to raise £32,000 to begin the restoration, the group having agreed with the NRM that the engine will not be dismantled until 20% of the total £160,000 restoration cost has been raised.
The initial sum will be used to overhaul the ‘bottom end’, and thanks to an £18,000 grant from the Association for Industrial Archaeology, combined with £7,000 already raised, ‘The Kick-Off’ needs only a further £7,000 to reach its target.
£5,000 of the initial £32,000 will be kept as a contingency fund, to allow the locomotive to be reassembled at any point in the project if required.
‘The Grand Slam’ is a scheme for supporters to donate £1,000 each, as a lump sum or to pledge £40 per month for 25 months, in return for incentives such as behind-the-scenes tours and a special preview day before the engine’s return to service.
The trust has six TVR and two GWR carriages in its collection, of which two – TVR Brake Third No. 220 and GWR Third No. 216 – are expected back in traffic within two years following overhaul.
A pair of TVR Thirds, Nos. 145 and 153, will then be sent away for contract restoration, with the aim of completing a four-coach rake by 2025 to run with the 0-6-2T.
An initial assessment of the locomotive has shown it to be in better condition than expected, thanks to work undertaken at the Dean Forest Railway and the Flour Mill during an earlier, abortive restoration attempt in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Saved for preservation in 1960 following National Coal Board service, No. 28 was first returned to steam by the Caerphilly Railway Society in 1983. It last ran in 1990, and went to the DFR in 1996 after the CRS moved to the Gwili. More recently, it was stored at the Llangollen Railway before arriving at the Gwili in 2014.
Full details of the project and how to donate can be found at www.taffvalerailway28.co.uk – for more, see pages 88-95.