‘Carmyllie Pilot’ is on its way back as boiler finally resteams after 43 years
THE overhaul of the boiler for Strathspey Railway-based Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 No. 46464 has been completed in Stockton-on-Tees by Northern Steam Engineering Ltd – 43 years after the locomotive last steamed!
It now is hoped that No. 46464 – which hauled the first scheduled passenger train on the heritage line on July 22, 1978 – will return to steam before the end of 2022.
Its boiler required extensive inner firebox platework renewal, a new smokebox tube plate to be manufactured, and the fitting and replacement of many stays and rivets.
The overhauled boiler will now be sent to Aviemore, where it will be refitted to the locomotive’s frames which are nearing the end of their overhaul, so that final fitting and assembly can take place.
Outshopped from Crewe in 1950, No. 46464 was the last of the class to be built there and that June was allocated to Dundee Tay Bridge (62B), along with classmate No. 46463.
No. 46464 hauled the very last passenger train from Arbroath to Forfar on August 2, 1952. It also hauled the last train to run over the Carmyllie branch, on May 19, 1965. Both locomotives were often seen working the line, either to the Metal Box factory or the quarries at Carmyllie. Local railway staff referred to either locomotive as the ‘Carmyllie Pilot,’ dependent on which was on duty.
In 1966, No. 46464 was bought by traction engine enthusiast Ian Fraser and became the first member of the class to be preserved. Ian had worked as a locomotive engineer with the LNER at Darlington, Doncaster, and Inverurie. He eventually purchased several engines, including Gresley D49 4-4-0 No.246 Morayshire.
Dundee to Aviemore
Ian presented No. 46464 to Dundee City Corporation with the wish that it would be publicly displayed. However, it was stored for several years before being loaned to the Strathspey, where it ran in service until it suffered accidental firebox damage in 1979.
Returned to Ian’s custody, it was then moved to the Caledonian Railway at Brechin in November it 1989. After Ian died three years later, that railway began investigations into returning No. 46464 to running order.
In 2000, the Caledonian decided it did not have the necessary resources for restoration, and the Carmyllie Pilot Company Ltd was established to restore and subsequently operate No. 46464.
It was dismantled and moved in March 2002 from the railway to a private site nearby with better facilities and improved access.
In November 2019 an agreement was signed with the Strathspey for No. 46464 to be moved to Aviemore for its overhaul to be completed, after which it will be based on that line. In October 2020 all of the driving, tender and pony truck wheelsets were delivered to the Strathspey following the worn tyres being reprofiled by Tyseley Locomotive Works, and last August the engine was re-wheeled at Aviemore.
No. 46464 is one of seven class members to be preserved.