K1 RETURNS TO STEAM AFTER TWO-MONTH OVERHAUL…
…but coronavirus delays public debut of pioneer Beyer-Garratt at Statfold Barn open day.
Prototype Beyer-Garratt K1 has returned to steam for the first time in six years at the Statfold Barn Railway, following a rapid overhaul which took little over two months.
Last steamed in 2014, the 1909-built compound 0-4-0+0-4-0T only arrived at the SBR on a ten-year loan from its long-time Welsh Highland Railway home on December 5, with a contract for its overhaul being signed in early January (SR503). K1’s ‘heavy general’ – which included a full boiler overhaul, repairs/patches to its tanks and the fitting of air brakes so it is compatible with SBR rolling stock – took just over eight weeks, the engine moving under its own power for the first time on March 10.
SBR spokesman James Gorton told Steam Railway: “The trust felt that it was very important to get this iconic engine into steam sooner rather than later, bearing in mind that it has been stored out of public view for a number of years at Dinas. Now the locomotive is running again, we will start to work through any items that arise as and when required; this ensures that the iconic engine will remain in the public view.”
It had been planned to launch K1 at the SBR’s ‘Back to Basics’ enthusiast open day on March 21, with as many as 18 engines in steam – including ‘Quarry Hunslet’ Cloister and Bagnall 0-4-0ST Wendy in what would have been their public Statfold debuts following the transferral of their ownership from the Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Trust to the SBR late last year (SR500).
However, owing to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the railway announced on March 17 that the event had been cancelled.