‘E’ up next
We cannot discuss Beachy Head without also exploring its successor – South Eastern & Chatham Railway ‘E’ 4-4-0 No. 516. Both locomotives represent the future of the Bluebell’s motive power, particularly as older, more fragile locomotives like Stepney and the Adams ‘Radial’ spend and increasingly long spells on the sidelines.
The project’s announcement a year ago (SR494) came as a bit of a surprise given that, among the various classes considered as a follow-up to Beachy Head – an LBSCR ‘K’ 2-6-0, a Craven outside-framed 2-4-0, an ‘L’ 4-6-4T, a ‘C2X’ 0-6-0, a ‘D1’ 0-4-2T, a ‘D2’ or ‘D3’ 0-4-4T, an ‘I3’ 4-4-2T, or a ‘J’ 4-6-2T – a Wainwright ‘E’ was conspicuous by its absence.
Indeed, given the project’s previous assertions that “talk of follow-on projects is no more than window shopping”, one has to ask: why take on another new-build?
David says: “To keep the team and the built-up expertise going and retain the use of Atlantic House. Like with the ‘Atlantic’, we do already have components to hand.”
Indeed it has; the tender wheelsets, brake linkages, half a steam reverser and brass dome cover, so while it may not have the same headstart as Beachy Head did, it is still a reasonably solid foundation. But, even so, No. 516 is still going to be an enormous project, and one that – unlike Beachy Head – won’t benefit from having the boiler (arguably the single most complex and expensive component of any new-build) already to hand. Why then did the team not take on one of the Bluebell’s existing fleet, on which they could have worked miracles? Why not, for instance, repair and overhaul the Bluebell’s other ‘Atlantic’ – the Adams ‘Radial’ – as was considered before they settled on building an ‘E’?
The answer, says David, is money, or rather the perceived lack of it: “Previous schemes for overhauls have not attracted the same sort of funds as those for Beachy Head, or indeed for restoring Barry wrecks, so we would be struggling. There may be scope for another team to take this on, but experience shows that locomotives that have previously run seldom attract the necessary support.”
As we explored in SR501, the reasons for selecting an ‘E’ include the non-superheated boiler, which represents a considerable cost saving, the availability of drawings, commonality of parts with the Bluebell’s other Chatham locomotives, and a relatively straightforward design, plus the ability to be of useful service to the Bluebell. And, there’s no denying it’d be a very handsome machine when completed; Wainwright certainly knew how to make his engines look good.
Work on No. 516 could begin sooner rather than later. David says: “All necessary permissions have been granted and parts are being collected together, as are the drawings. The build will start before the ‘Atlantic’ is finished, once space is available inside Atlantic House. We’ll probably start with the main frames first.”