‘IRONCLAD’ FIRE LIT AS ‘A CLASS’ IS OVERHAULED
As one Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 0-6-0 is preparing to return to steam in Yorkshire, another is receiving a fast-track overhaul in Lancashire.
Having passed its hydraulic test on July 17, the boiler of Barton Wright Class ‘25’ No. 957 had its first warming fire lit for an initial steam test at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway on July 24.
This was followed on August 7 by its official insurance steam test, which it “passed with flying colours” in the words of volunteer Mike Curtis. He added: “We hope to reunite it with the frames within the next two or three weeks.”
The 1887-built ‘Ironclad’, which last steamed in January 2013, is being restored in its fictional ‘Great Northern &
Southern Railway’ green livery, to mark the 50th anniversary of its appearance as the ‘Green Dragon’ in the 1970 production of The Railway Children.
Meanwhile, Aspinall Class ‘27’ No. 52322 has had its boiler lifted from the frames at the East Lancashire Railway, to receive its ‘ten-yearly’ overhaul early.
Although the boiler certificate of the 1896-built engine still had two years to run, its owner Andy Booth decided to carry out the task because, he said, “I needed something to do during the lockdown!”
With his ex-Barry GWR ‘2884’ 2-8-0 No. 3855 and SR ‘USA’ 0-6-0T No. 30072 under restoration and overhaul respectively, he explained: “The ‘A Class’ was due to come out in 2022, but by then 72 will probably be nearly finished and 3855 will be well advanced, so the ‘A Class’ would have got put to one side for four or five years.”
Requiring only a re-tube and some riveting work, he added, No. 52322’s boiler is already “nearly finished – but there’s no point rushing it because there’s no work for it at the moment.
“We’ll probably wait until January for the official inspection, then if the ELR is doing a spring gala, we’ll put it back together – or run ‘Douglas’ as 52322 again (SR504). Nobody will notice.”
had forced the tank plate and internal baffles away from each other, rotting the platework in the process. A new bunker floor has also been made and fitted, while the reversing and rear sanding gear have been refurbished.
Work is progressing towards reassembly of the bottom end, with two of the driving axlebox crown brasses having been re-metalled and the other two (the front ’boxes) having new crowns made. The motion is being overhauled, with the eccentric straps and big ends having received new whitemetal bearings, and new bottom slidebars are being manufactured.
The boiler is receiving welding repairs to the steel firebox wrapper and building up wastage around the copper stays, while a new firebox foundation ring is being made (the condition of the original having been the cause of the engine’s withdrawal in 2000), and a replacement smokebox has been ordered.
The GWS’ appeal for £60,000 towards the overhaul has so far raised £40,000. Donations can be sent to 1466 Appeal, Didcot Railway Centre, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 7NJ or made at https://didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk
SR & CONSTITUENTS
499: This ex-Barry ‘S15’ 4-6-0 has been lifted off all its wheels for the first time in preservation, as its owning Urie Locomotive Society restarts work following the lockdown. It had previously been an ‘0-2-0’, with all the wheelsets removed except for the rear driving wheels. The next step is to free up the axleboxes for assessment and restoration. Work was also due to commence this spring on the overhaul of boiler No. 799 (originally from ‘King Arthur’ Sir Ironside) for use on this locomotive, but Ropley’s boiler shop has so far been unable to do so because of the lockdown.
35005: The first new inner firebox for a ‘Merchant Navy’ in preservation has been assembled for Canadian Pacific in the Mid-Hants Railway’s boiler shop at Ropley, from a kit of parts produced by South Devon Railway Engineering. It was due to be craned into the outer wrapper earlier this year, but this has not yet taken place because of the lockdown.
Ropley’s engineering works has also produced three new piston heads and rods, overhauled the middle eccentric strap, and dispatched these parts to Eastleigh Works for fitting to the rebuilt Bulleid ‘Pacific’.
BR STANDARD
92212 : Jeremy Hosking’s ‘9F’ 2-10-0 left the Llangollen Railway on August 3, bound for a private site in the Midlands, where it has been placed in temporary storage. Haulier Allelys had been due to carry out the movement in late July, but it was cancelled because the Highways Agency had imposed a weight limit on a bridge along the planned route.
Peter Greenwood of Locomotive Services Ltd told Steam Railway: “The intention is to overhaul it – but we don’t yet know where.”