Veteran Beyer Peacock shunter steams again at Foxfield Railway
BEYER Peacock 0-4-0ST No. 1827 of 1879 has returned to steam at the Foxfield Railway after two years out of action.
The former Beyer Peacock Gorton Works shunter, which was originally built as an 0-4-2 crane tank, made its debut on September 4/5 at the head of the Knotty Coach Trust's train of vintage North Staffordshire Railway carriages. A unique 1884-built Midland Railway saloon has just returned to the line for restoration and eventual use with this set.
A mid-term mechanical overhaul on No. 1827 has included work on its motion, replacement of the timber in its bufferbeams (which consist of wood sandwiched between two steel sections) and a new smokebox.
It has been turned out in the lined green livery that it wore at Gorton from the 1930s to the 1950s. It previously carried both plain and lined black guises in preservation, which are also historically authentic.
It is the second 0-4-0ST to be turned out from the Foxfield's workshops this year, the first having been Hawthorn Leslie No. 3581 of 1924 Marston, Thompson & Evershed No. 3, outshopped in July.
This former Burton-on-Trent brewery shunter was the second steam locomotive to arrive at the Foxfield in 1967, but it last steamed at the Great Central Railway over 40 years ago.
A third 0-4-0ST, Kerr Stuart Witch class No. 4388 of 1926, is also nearly ready to return to service. Acquired last year by Jack Dibnah, son of famous steeplejack Fred Dibnah, it has passed its boiler tests and made trial runs around the yard, albeit minus its saddle tank, for which a replacement still needs to be made.