Thornbury Castle sold to ‘Night Owl’ project – and may be a Star
CONTROVERSY has flared over the sale of unrestored WR 4-6-0 No. 7027 Thornbury Castle for use as a donor locomotive for the two schemes to recreate extinct locomotive classes.
In the 50 years since it became the 23rd steam locomotive to be bought from Barry scrapyard, in its case as a source of spares for other locomotives at what was then known as Birmingham Railway Museum, No. 7027 has had several owners but has never been restored to running order.
Now the current private owner has agreed to sell it to Great Western Society’s 4709 Project group – which wants to use its GWR No. 8 boiler in its scheme to build the 10th example of George Jackson Churchward’s heavy freight ‘Night Owl’ 47XX 2-8-0s.
The project team is currently using another ex-Barry locomotive, GWR 2-8-0 No. 2861, as a parts donor. It now plans to mount the boiler from No. 2861 on the chassis of Thornbury Castle to recreate and operate a 1930s-era Star class express 4-6-0.
The GWR converted 15 of its 73 Stars to Castles, and the mooted course of action would be a retro-conversion. However, the plan has been criticised by West Somerset Railway plc chairman Jonathan Jones-Pratt, the previous owner of Thornbury Castle, who said that he sold the locomotive thinking that it would be restored by the buyer in its own identity at Loughborough on the Great Central Railway, where it is currently stored.
He has now offered to buy No. 7027 back from the 4709 Project and set up a Thornbury Castle Society to oversee its restoration at the GCR. He has contacted GCR acting general manager Richard Patching in a bid to discuss the possibility.
“I have no personal interest in longterm ownership of the loco, although I will offer a shareholding of course, but my offer is to financially support and secure the loco in the short term,” said Jonathan. “My view is that to do nothing is a crying shame. We need to respect those who have the passion to see No. 7027 run again.”
A GCR spokesman said that neither the railway nor the private seller of No. 7027 were prepared to comment on the matter.
Authentic
The 4079 Project’s Richard Croucher said:“Given the promise of a‘new’Star, our intention is to recreate and operate it to complement Lode Star’s 1930s-era design.
“The Star will feature authentic dished extension frames and fully external steam pipes. We are also planning the conversion in such a way that it can be easily reverted, while retaining and preserving as many original parts of Thornbury Castle as possible.
“Should a No. 7 or No. 8 boiler become available, it would then be relatively straightforward to steam as Thornbury Castle again, clearly demonstrating Swindon’s foresight in express locomotive design.
“We believe this is the most realistic chance of completing No. 4709 in a reasonable timescale, that Thornbury Castle has of running again, while also adding a 1930s-era Star class to the GWR stable.”
The acquisition of the No. 8 boiler offers a huge saving for the 4709 Project. Estimates suggest that a new 47XX-standard No. 7 boiler would cost more than £800,000 to fabricate and take up to five years to complete.
Richard said: “Informally we’ve spoken to a number of possible contractors who have intimated their preference for a steel firebox, while at the GWS we’d prefer a copper unit. The downside to steel would be the need for a redesign of the entire firebox, with the inevitable delays and redesign approval that would cause. We also know that the life expectancy will be shortened, while its maintenance costs will be proportionally higher.
“Thornbury’s boiler (No. 7615) was built at Swindon in 1949. It has a copper firebox which we believe was replaced in 1959; an initial survey shows it to be in a surprisingly good condition. It will need thickness testing, all stays hammer testing, and then the scale cleaned out for a better visual exam.
“With the opportunity to acquire No. 7027’s No. 8 boiler for 4709, the project leaps forward to a point where we now have almost all of the major components required to build our Churchward 47XX 2-8-0. We hope to inspect the boiler later this year, overhaul it, and then see it installed in 4709’s frames before too long.”
He said that on No. 4709, the slightly smaller-dimensioned No. 8 boiler from the Castle would not be possible to spot, being a matter of only a few inches in the barrel diameter. “It’s hardly a stumbling block and will be indistinguishable from a standard No. 7 boiler. Remember, we would still have had to lower the centreline of the No. 7 boiler by a similar amount to clear the Network Rail loading gauge.
“Back in the early 1920s, the GWR planned to use the No. 7 boiler for a number of other classes, including the Saint and 28XX, all of which then carried the No. 1 boiler. I think we’ll see something similar happening here.”
The nine 47XXs, built between 1919 and 1923, were mainly intended to haul overnight food trains into 1920s London from the West, South West and Midlands but quickly found use on freight duties across the GWR network.
Latterly, their reliability, power and route availability saw them hauling holiday passenger services with great success.
Following the recent delivery of the two fully-machined new cylinder castings together with the new cylinder and valve covers to Tyseley Locomotive Works, the next stage of building No. 4709 is the current assembly of the pair as a single block, which will be installed in the refurbished donor extension frames from GWR 2-6-2T No. 4115.
Reassembly
Once they are fitted and the whole front end assembly is be offered up to the main frames for optical alignment, wheeling No. 4709 will be the next major job, with overhaul of the axle boxes and fitting the new springs that are already on order. The pony truck assembly is being reassembled and will be ready to be placed under the front end, said Richard.
Outshopped from Swindon in August 1949, Thornbury Castle was first allocated to Plymouth (Laira) and moved to Old Oak Common in January 1951, working many named expresses out of Paddington, and being a regular performer on ‘The Bristolian’. In May 1960 it moved to Worcester and headed the ‘Cathedrals Express’ to London. After its final general overhaul at Swindon in August 1963, it was transferred to Reading where it was used as station pilot and was withdrawn that December, arriving at Dai Woodham’s scrapyard the following May.
No. 7027 was bought by pop mogul Pete Waterman in October 1994 and moved to Crewe Heritage Centre awaiting restoration. It was later taken to Peak Rail. In 2016, Jonathan bought the locomotive with the aim of restoring it to working order and moved it to the former Westland Helicopter works at Weston-superMare. A blow came in February 2019 with the theft of motion parts while it was being transferred to the SWR’s Williton Works.