Barber cab should remain low
AS you may be aware, information has recently surfaced on social media regarding proposed alterations to the South Tynedale Railway's (STR) Harrogate Gas Works 0-6-2ST Barber. Apparently the STR intends to increase the height of the cab roof.
Barber is one of only three surviving locomotives built by Thomas Green & Son of Leeds (No. 441 of 1908), and the only one in the northern hemisphere; it is therefore a locomotive of national historical significance. The low-height cab roof is a distinctive original feature of its design, reflecting its working life on a railway with restricted clearances.
Considerations
I quite understand that the railway needs to consider the health and safety of its volunteers, but given the historical importance of Barber, any decision to modify this locomotive should not be taken lightly, especially if those modifications will not be easily reversible. I have written to the STR to ask questions about their approach to this problem, namely:
1. When Barber was transferred to the STR by Leeds City Museums, did they stipulate any conditions regarding the locomotive's long-term conservation? If so, will the proposed modifications be compliant with these?
2. Will the proposed modifications be designed to be easily reversible, in line with standard conservation practice?
3. Has the railway assessed alternative options to reduce any risk to its locomotive crews?
I posed these questions in a letter to the STR but they have not responded to any of them directly, telling me only that a conservation management plan for the locomotive would be discussed at the next meeting of their trustees in March.
Given the historical importance of the locomotive and its status as a formerly publicly-owned artefact, I believe there is a strong public interest in ensuring that the locomotive is cared for in accordance with proper conservation practice.
Murray Tremellen, Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire.
➜ David Granath, chairman of the trustees of the South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society, responded:
“Barber is undergoing repair work on its bottom end with new cylinder liners and pistons/rings fitted. New springs are on order and new motion bearings are being made and fitted as needed. The chimney, which is out of line with the blastpipe, has been moved to its correct position. All this work is being carried out in house at Alston.
“A conservation management plan for Barber is being drawn up, which will take into account the safety of operation of the locomotive together with its heritage in relation to the cab modifications.”
The plan was to be discussed by the trustees on March 8, he said.