SVR Diesels thunder back
■ Volunteers arrived at Milton of Crathes on the Royal Deeside Railway on April 20, to find that the GUV carriage and one of the Class 03 (D2094) diesels had been broken into. This upset was further compounded when the team realised that the railway’s Husqvarna rail saw and other tools had been stolen. The volunteers are appealing for any dash-cam footage from vehicles that may have been passing West Lodge in the previous week, in particular between 2200 and 0600 on April 19/20. If you would like to contribute to the volunteers’ fund-raising efforts to replace the equipment, please visit www. deeside-railway.co.uk.
■ At Rushden the last couple of weekends in April saw the restoration team finishing off a few more bits in the cab of Class 03 03179 and a start being made on the underframe again. In the cab the brake handle has received a few coats of matt lacquer and the scotch holder has been refitted along with the two oil/lubricating wells. Work has also started on painting the two cab radiators, a feature unique to 03079/179 that were fitted while the locos were based on the Isle of Wight. Meanwhile, volunteers have removed the underframe air tank and front sandbox on one side of the loco and have started to needle gun the underframe. Having already stripped and painted the underframe under the cab area on both sides, this made sense when the cab floor was removed for access to the rear sandboxes and other components. Over the Bank Holiday weekend the team stripped and started to paint the tank while also continuing with the underframe. It has made a great difference having additional volunteers to complete the work, and attention can now be concentrated on the front step area and stripping the pipework running under the running board.
Another couple of new parts arrived, including the solid oak round side tanks supports. These are really too good to paint and put under the tanks, they could be used as wall decorations or picture frames! They were made in oak because of their future exposure to the elements. It’s what BR used on the originals, although not finished to the same standard.
■ At Buckfastleigh on April 17 work centred on grinding down the worst corrosion-affected areas on the bonnet of Class 04 D2246, followed by a light sanding all over. Then the bare metal was sprayed with metal primer and finished off with the first grey undercoat. Work then moved onto the cab roof with all the rust and flaking paint being ground back with a flapper wheel. A light sand was done all over before an undercoat was applied.
■ Progress has been made on Class 04 D2302 at Moreton Park, with the badly rusted metalwork below the left-hand cab door finally being replaced.
■ Class 05 D2578 at Moreton Park has been getting some attention recently. The beginning of April saw the loco receive a longawaited oil change, along with the installation of some reconditioned fuel injectors. It has been cleaned externally with paraffin and oil and looks a lot better for it.
■ The shunters at the Mid-Hants Railway have recently received attention, most notably 08288 that has been repainted into BR blue and now carries the name Phoenix.
The name is a reference to the fire damage incurred in 2013 and the newly completed full rewire that was required to repair the shunter and return it to traffic. Also at Ropley, Class 11 12082, which still masquerades as scrapped sister 12049, has been repainted into allover British Railways black.
■ At long last there has been more progress on overhauling SVR Class 11 shunter 12099 at Kidderminster. Its inner cab ceiling has been given a long-awaited second coat of topcoat and there has been a first coat for one of the door walls. Small steps, but progress none the less.