Furness No. 20 on its way back

THE Furness Railway Trust’s popular and well-travelled unique 0-4-0 tender engine No. 20, which was rebuilt back to original condition from an 0-4-0ST steelworks shunter, is nearing the end of its 10-year overhaul, with the boiler undergoing out of frames hydraulic testing at the Ribble Steam Railway workshops, where it is being overhauled.

Another of the trust’s locomotives, GWR 0-6-2T No. 5643, has passed its annual steam test as a prelude to spending another season working on the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. It has been found to require additional work on both its brakes and front end, with a piston and valve exam needed to determine where it is leaking steam from and the work needed to remedy it.

A third locomotive, GWR 4-6-0 No. 4979 Wootton Hall, has been receiving new sections of firebox cladding and a pair of newly-made piston valves has been supplied by Tyseley Locomotive Works.

Armstrong Oilers of Grosmont has also supplied a set of oiler pads for the tender wheels, which will allow the tender to be rewheeled in the near future.