Restoration of 55008 cab is completed by DPS volunteers
Preservation Society unveiled its newly-restored No. 2 end cab from 55008 The Green Howards in a short ceremony at its Barrow Hill depot on April 1.
Representatives from The Green Howards Association joined invited guests to see the work done to the cab, which is now housed in a corner of the DPS Depot building, immaculately restored in BR blue.
The cab has been part of the DPS collection for a number of years and was previously mounted on a road trailer for visits to various events and also served as a train simulator, but fell into disuse after being stored outside at Barrow Hill.
The project to return the cab to museum condition began in 2016 and has included significant bodywork repairs and fabrication of an additional section of bodywork behind the cab. When the cab was cut from the rest of the locomotive as it was being scrapped at Doncaster Works in August 1982, it was cut close to the cab doors and it was felt that reinstating approximately 4ft of bodywork would allow easier access into the restored cab.
Internally, the cab looks as good as it did when it was first built and has been restored to a very high standard, including controls for water scoop equipment that was previously fitted to the Deltics, although these controls were only found in the cab of 55008 when it came to the DPS, with the three complete locomotives in their collection – D9009 Alycidon, D9015 Tulyar and 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier – all devoid of these controls. The restoration of the cab has been led by DPS volunteers Beth Marsh and Nigel Lacy, assisted by a small team of supporting volunteers. Miss Marsh told Railways Illustrated: “The focus for the DPS volunteers is generally the three locomotives, but we were keen to restore the cab from 55008 to provide an easy and safe way of seeing how the Deltic cabs looked and to provide some added interest for visitors to the depot.
“We are incredibly proud of the work done and I’m grateful to everyone who has helped us with its restoration.”
Mr Lacy said they were hoping to make further modifications to the cab over the next year to make it even more interactive for visitors. The team is keen to hear from anyone who has the necessary skills to install sound chips to the cab, which will create authentic sounds when buttons are pressed by visitors.
The same team of volunteers is now likely to assist Richard Benyon with the restoration of his surviving No. 1 end cab from 55021 Argyll & Sutherland Highlander. Mr Benyon has recently had his cab moved to IW Fabrications for extensive bodywork repairs (Railways Illustrated, issue 231)
Andy Coward and, once complete, it is expected that the cab from 55021 will then move to Barrow Hill for restoration work to be carried out. It will then remain at Barrow Hill on display for a period, before moving to the Llaneli & Mynydd Mawr Railway, where Mr Benyon has a number of cabs on display from his Cab Yard collection.