‘COUNTY’ COULD STEAM IN THREE YEARS WITH MORE SUPPORT
Replica ‘County’ No. 1014 County of Glamorgan could be finished by 2020 - if support is forthcoming for new initiatives to push the project forward. In similar vein to the proposed restructuring of the Great Western Society’s ‘47XX’ scheme, a new support group is needed to help complete the Didcotbased Hawksworth 4-6-0 and put it on the main line. In SR463, David Bradshaw - chairman of the LMS Patriot Project, and one of the founders of the ‘County’ and ‘47XX’ new-builds outlined a rethink of the latter, warning that at the current rate of progress, it could be another 20 years before No. 4709 steams. The same is needed to keep up momentum on No. 1014, with new volunteers sought for the engineering team, and to take on marketing and publicity roles to bring the locomotive to a wider audience. Says Mr Bradshaw: “The ‘County’ is much more advanced than the ‘47XX’, and we would like to finish it within three years if we can get enough support.” No. 1014 - a ‘mix and match’ of new parts and existing components from former ‘Barry Ten’ engines - reached the ‘rolling chassis’ stage last year, when the frames and bogie from ‘Modified Hall’ No. 7927 Willington Hall came together with the new 6ft 3in driving wheels. Assembly of the boiler is expected to take place this year, with a new tapered barrel currently being rolled. This will be married to the firebox from LNER-built Stanier ‘8F’ 2-8-0 No. 48518 to create the Swindon No. 15 boiler design unique to the ‘Counties’. The overhaul and modification of the firebox is nearing completion at LNWR Crewe, while the smokebox and its door are to be ordered shortly, the latter sponsored by Steam Railway. Changes to the smokebox saddle are needed first, as the combination of larger diameter driving wheels and the bigger boiler means that the latter has to be lowered in the frames to meet the Network Rail loading gauge. Project Manager Dicky Boast said the other main target in the first quarter of this year is to prepare the tender chassis for the fitting of the tank, while assembly of its brake linkage has commenced. ❚❚Can you help the ‘County’? Contact David Bradshaw at bradshaw.md@gmx.com or via Didcot Railway Centre, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 7NJ.