Magnificent Myfanwy
Alistair Grieve and Gareth Evans talk to Phil Civil, who won the Young Volunteer of the Year award at the Heritage Railway Association’s 2020 awards for his efforts in restoring Bagnall 0-4-0 diesel Myfanwy to its original condition at the Chasewater Rail
Alistair Grieve and Gareth Evans talk to Phil Civil, who won the Young Volunteer of the Year award at the Heritage Railway Association’s 2020 awards for his efforts in restoring Bagnall 0-4-0 diesel Myfanwy to its original condition at the Chasewater Railway.
At the recent Heritage Railway Association (HRA) Awards Phil Civil, 24, of the Foxfield and Chasewater Railways, won the Young Volunteer of the Year award for the restoration of a locomotive. It wasn’t a famous locomotive; in fact most people will probably not have heard of it. It is just a simple little 0-4-0 diesel shunter – although the restoration was anything but simple. The end product is a sight to behold, and more people will now know of Myfanwy, the award-winning diesel.
Myfanwy started life in 1962 as Bagnall works number 3211, but while a kit of parts it was moved from the Castle Works in Stafford to Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns (RSH) in Darlington for completion. Bagnall had just been taken over by English Electric, which then merged with RSH, closing the Castle Works in the process. Completed as RSH No. 8366, it went to work at ROF (Royal Ordnance Factory) Pembrey with two others, before a stint at ROF Glascoed, ending up with industrial locomotive dealer Alan Keef.
Purchased from Alan Keef by Tarmac Construction, it was heavily modified by an unknown contractor for work on the London Underground Jubilee Line extension. These included a lowered cab with modified internal arrangements to suit, narrowed steps and buffer beams, plus various safety features. It also acquired the Myfanwy name at this time. When work was completed for London Underground, it moved to the Rugby yard of
Carillion. However, it was deemed to be too small and light for shunting duties, so was parked up.
Luckily for Myfanwy, Mark Civil (Phil’s father) also worked at Rugby depot. Instead of it being scrapped, the locomotive was bought by Mark, moved to the Foxfield Railway in 2003 and into preservation. The locomotive saw use as a general shunting engine, plus making the odd gala appearance – but the restricted vision from the cut-down cab always made it a little challenging to use. Mark and Phil began to look at restoring the locomotive back to its original form, which included making plans and patterns for the new cab from scratch as none existed.
“We were planning to return it to full height,” recalled Phil. “No drawings are in existence, so it all had to be carefully calculated and drawn up.”
Only three locomotives of this design were built by Bagnall – Nos. 3209/3210 and 3211, all destined for ROF Pembrey to start with. No. 3210 has been cut up, but No. 3209 is still working for a living as the works pilot at Brush, Loughborough. With no plans existing, it was No. 3209 that provided the template for the new cab for No. 3211 Myfanwy.
Sadly, before work could commence, Mark suddenly passed away in March 2016, resulting in the project being put on hold. However, discussions with friends at the Chasewater Railway saw the project reignited as they decided it would be a fitting tribute to continue the work Mark and Phil had started.
Therefore, that summer Myfanwy was moved to the Chasewater Railway and after appearing at a few events, work began in earnest to restore the locomotive back to its 1962 condition.
Ably assisted by the Chasewater team, Phil has taken the locomotive back to bare bones, overhauled the engine and underframe and totally rebuilt the cab. The latter was not just a case of rebuilding the cab frame to raise the roof, but also included a complete rebuild of the driving desk and floor. The desk had been cut down to fit and the floor had been modified with two deep insets so the drivers drove by sitting on what was basically the old floor with their feet in the two wells,
“If you focus, you can achieve great things. This project was doubted by many people, but we did it! My drive to succeed was the memory of my father. Dad taught me everything. He’s made me who I am.”
forward vision being very restricted by this arrangement, even though new low-level windows were provided. A trademark of these Bagnall diesels (in original condition) is the very large windows, which provide excellent forward vision and these have now been restored – surely some of the biggest pieces of glass on a diesel shunter.
“It’s had a ground upwards rebuild – including lots of work on the engine and transmission and a full rewire,” explained Phil.
“It’s also been off its wheels – and the motion’s been overhauled. New springs have been fitted and the final drive has been attended to as well. It’s been fitted with vacuum brakes too, so it can now be used on passenger trains.”
The final piece of work has been the livery and it is nothing short of spectacular. It was delivered in 1962 in full all-over wasp stripes and that is what it carries again, one of only two preserved diesels to currently carry this scheme. The other (YEC 0-4-0 No. 2481) is tucked round the back of the Kelham Island Industrial Museum in Sheffield.
Rolled outside in its new colours for the first time on March 7, the scheme is nothing short of breathtaking, the pictures do not do it justice.
The locomotive was due to be formally relaunched at the start of April on Mark’s birthday, but the event was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The restoration is nothing short of magnificent, however. The HRA award is totally deserved for the work that Phil put into this and Myfanwy is going to turn more than a few heads at Chasewater.
Myfanwy will now join the operational pool at the friendly Staffordshire heritage line, operating occasional passenger turns on Saturdays and during special events, as well as shunting.
Phil’s story
“My grandfather was the late Allen Civil, author of the Bagnall books,” enthused Phil.
“He worked at Bagnalls in Stafford. He volunteered at the Foxfield Railway, where he owned several steam locomotives. My dad and uncles got involved too. Dad and uncles David and Andrew owned two steam locomotives – I now own Dad’s share in those.”
The locomotives concerned are Bagnall 0-4-0ST No. 2842 and RSH 0-4-0ST
Eustace Forth.
“I own Myfanwy myself as I was left it. I also own Thomas Hill 4WDH No. 111C of 1961. In fact, my next project is to rebuild that. I hope to be able to start imminently.
“While I enjoy being on the footplate, I’m happier in a boiler suit rather than a bib and brace. I love the restoration work.
“It’s great that both the Foxfield and Chasewater railways have a healthy mix of age groups – young volunteers are not in short supply. I still volunteer at Foxfield – I live between the two lines.”
Asked why he volunteers, Phil replied: “I like the satisfaction – the rebuilding and tackling something that was tired and breathing new life into it. I’m continuing the family tradition – I’m the third generation.
“The experiences I have gained as a heritage line volunteer have helped me gain a role on the main line. I work as a mechanical fitter at Crewe.”
Turning to the HRA awards, Phil said: “I didn’t know I had been nominated until Chasewater Railway chairman Mark Sealey told me he’d done it. I got the invitation, so knew I was one of five people shortlisted. They read out the five different stories during the awards ceremony – all impressive people.
“I never thought I would win, so I attended the ceremony with that attitude. It was a good feeling to win though – I’m sure Dad would be proud of three years of hard graft in his memory.
“The awards ceremony was a most enjoyable evening. With us having the locomotives running at different lines, I know a number of people in the heritage railway sector, so it was nice to catch up with them and also to meet others for the first time.”
As for what advice Phil would offer other heritage line young volunteers, he said: “You’ve got to put a lot of time and effort in. If you focus, you can achieve great things. This project was doubted by many people, but we did it! My drive to succeed was the memory of my father. Dad taught me everything. He’s made me who I am.”
Asked about his ambitions for the future, Phil replied: “To continue the maintenance of the fleet – including the steam and diesel locomotives. No. 2842 is due a 10-year overhaul later this year. I’m hoping to finish the Thomas Hill by late summer, and then I can start work on No. 2842.”