Hope for original boiler as Darj overhaul begins
The overhaul of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway 0-4-0ST B-Class No. 19 began on 8th January in the workshops of the Statfold Narrow Gauge Trust where the loco now resides.
The Darjeeling Tank Locomotive Trust (DTLT), which was successful in acquiring the loco last year following the death of former owner Adrian Shooter, decided not to have one last steaming before the boiler ticket expired in February but to get the overhaul underway with the hope of having 19B back in steam for the summer.
The first major task was to dismantle the loco so that the boiler could be lifted for analysis. The Trust hopes that no major repairs will be required as any fundamental issues would require a new boiler to be built at an estimated cost of £150,000.
The boiler was lifted, taken into the workshop and the tubes extracted, followed by many hours of work removing scale, sludge and all other contaminants.
DTLT Chair Jeremy Davey commented that the great fear was to find a catastrophic fault; “Newer boilers can be given a replacement barrel or inner firebox, but not with this one. It is so original it would simply be wrong to Trigger’s broom it!”
The only non-original components in the boiler are the front tubeplate and a patch behind it, the tubes, some stays, the washout bosses, and some patches in the firebox. “Everything else is 135 years old,” Jeremy said.
“With the boiler removed, you can see the remains of the studs for the original boilermaker’s plate – this loco has patina and history in spades.”
DTLT treasurer ‘Fuzz’ Jordan confirmed some work will be needed. “We need to replace pieces of plating on the lower sides of the outer firebox where it has sat between the frames and the outside has suffered corrosion.”
As NGW went to press, however, there were hopes that the overhaul would be a straightforward repair with no major work needed identified so far. This could change after shotblasting and the mandatory Non Destructive Testing but boilersmith John Glaze said to Jeremy; “I’m confident we can give this boiler another 10 years.”
The DTLT will hold a second Supporters Day at Statfold in early April, with progress on the overhaul on view and future plans to be discussed.
The Trust is also looking to boost its volunteer team; “especially those that enjoy hands-on engineering getting their hands dirty – there’s a lot of work to do on the chassis, frames and other loco parts with no special skills required.”
More details of the Trust’s work are on the website at www.darjeelingtank.org.uk