Tynedale’s Green Dragon complete
The restoration of the South Tynedale Railway’s Hunslet 0-4-2T Green Dragon has been completed by North Bay Railway Engineering, Scarborough, and the engine will be unveiled at the AGM on November 12. Work carried out has included the manufacture of a new boiler, tanks and cab. Imported to the UK from South Africa and acquired by the STR in 1998, the engine worked on the Umtwalumi Valley sugar estate. Built in 1937, it is the same design as the North Gloucestershire Narrow Gauge Railway’s 1940 Chaka’s Kraal No. 6. It ran on the STR for ten years from 1990. Green Dragon, previously known as Carlisle in STR fleet lists, will burn biomass carried in a tender to be constructed under a separate contract. The name Carlisle has been transferred to a battery electric locomotive that has been restored at the Statfold Barn Railway. At Alston, progress with the STR’s lottery and grantfunded development has included an inspection pit in the engineering workshop. Insulation cladding has been replaced on the walls and roof, and the biomass plant, which will also heat the station, should be ready by Christmas. The contract has been let for the new station café, second platform, and column bases for the train shed. A separate contract to complete the roof canopy will start in January. Along the line, the track clearance, construction of Slaggyford station car park and track laying as far as Station Lane, Slaggyford, were due for completion by November 3. There is also a contract to restore the building and add toilets. An online system has increased ‘Santa’ bookings by 85% on 2015.