FIRST MOVES TO STEAM SECOND PRESERVED ‘PUG’
Moves are being made towards overhauling Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway ‘Pug’ No. 19 for what would be its first stint of service in preservation.
Owned by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Trust, the Aspinall 0-4-0ST moved from the Ribble Steam Railway to the East Lancashire Railway in January (SR502).
Limited ‘exploratory’ dismantling of the 1910 Horwichbuilt engine commenced in early July, to assess the feasibility of returning it to steam by the centenary of the LYR’s merger with the LNWR – for which the ELR is proposing to hold a major gala in 2022 (SR504).
The work was planned to include removal of the coupling and connecting rods, and brake gear, to assess the condition of their bushes and pins, as well as the blastpipe and main steam pipes, and the cylinder covers to examine the pistons and rings.
Its tyres are described as “a bit worn, but not excessively”, and a new saddle tank is expected to be needed. The cost of the overhaul will not be known until the engine is fully inspected, but an appeal for funds is possible.
The ‘Pug’ was steam-tested only once in preservation – at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway in the early 1970s – but failed and has been a static exhibit there and at Ribble ever since.
Though temporarily adorned with BR livery as scrapped classmate No. 51241 for the ELR’s ‘Lanky’-themed gala in March, it was never in nationalised stock – as LMS No. 11243, it was sold into industrial use in 1931.
The trust owns the other surviving ‘Pug’, No. 51218 at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, and also hopes to return this to steam. However, trust volunteer John Sagar said: “While negotiations between the L&YR Trust and the KWVR for the restoration of 51218 at Haworth were well advanced by early this year, the subsequent health crisis means that the railway sadly now has more pressing priorities.”