New-build NER K class project launched for Beamish Museum – a decade on
BEAMISH Museum has launched a project to build a new North Eastern Railway K class 0-4-0T to run at the museum’s Rowley station.
Originally mooted more than 10 years ago, the project generated some interest at the time but the purchase of Sharp Stewart 0-4-4T No. 4085 Dunrobin and long-term hire of NER H class (LNER Y7)
No. 8088 led to the proposal being superseded.
On October 12, 2022, the museum officially launched the project to build a new example of one of the smallest standard gauge locomotive designs created by a main line company.
The new K class (rebuilt locomotives becoming LNER Y8) construction is being funded by a private benefactor in Darlington, where it will be constructed by North Bay Railway Engineering Services (NBRES).
To be numbered 559, it will recreate the first of the class that comprised just five examples, including the marine style boiler that had a cylindrical flue into which the grate was fitted.
Once complete it will be based at Beamish, where it will operate out of the museum’s recreated NER station.
CAD work has already progressed, with the boiler design complete and some components already cut, including the backhead and tubeplate. The outer boiler barrel was also due imminently at NBRES.
David Humphreys, of NBRES, said: “We are delighted to be involved in building this new locomotive and fulfilling the team’s dream. No. 559 will be spot-on for what Beamish needs.
“The boiler is making rapid progress and the outer wrapper should be ready during January 2023.”
The boiler has been chosen for building first to prove commitment to the project, after which the frames and other components will follow.
When completed, No. 559 will be turned out in Saxony green – the Gateshead Work version of the NER green, with black and white lining on the tanks and cab back sheet, with white lining to black tyre walls on the wheels.
The restoration of repatriated Sharp Stewart 0-4-4T Dunrobin, which was built in 1895 for the 4th Duke of Sutherland and brought back to Britain from Canada in 2011, will not be impacted by this new project. Discussions are currently taking place with the Severn Valley Railway with a view to restarting the work that has been paused since 2020.