LORD NELSON AND 73096 SET FOR OVERHAUL IN MHR STEAM STRATEGY
Lord Nelson and ‘Standard Five’ No. 73096 could return to steam in 2020 and 2025 respectively, under the Mid-Hants Railway’s ‘Steam Locomotive Strategy’.
Following the MHR plc’s purchase of the Riddles 4-6-0 from John Bunch last year (SR474), the company and MHR Preservation Society have jointly reviewed the future of the line’s steam fleet, with the aim of “providing a serviceable fleet to 2030.”
First to be out shopped will be the Urie Locomotive Society’s ‘S15’ 4-6-0 No. 506, which is expected to return to steam next year. Once this engine is in traffic, its place in the workshops will be taken by National Collection Maunsell 4-6-0 No. 850 Lord Nelson, which the railway “undertook to overhaul for the National Railway Museum by 2020.”
It will be followed by ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35005 Canadian Pacific (owned by the MHRPS) and ‘West Country’ No. 34105 Swanage (privately owned) with the railway “anticipating that both locomotives will be in service by mid-2021 or sooner.”
After this, priority will be given to two BR Standard 4-6-0s – completing the restoration of ex-Barry ‘4MT’ No. 75079 (owned by the MHRPS) and then overhauling No. 73096, with the “projected in-service dates for these locomotives [being] 2024 and 2025 respectively.”
The MHR is exploring the possibility of sending ‘West Country’ No. 34007 Wadebridge
(in which the MHRPS has a 73% share, and which last steamed in 2016) to an outside contractor for overhaul; if not, this engine and recently withdrawn ‘Black Five’ No. 45379 (see left) “will be built into the plan after No. 73096 is in service.”
Two more ‘S15s’ – ex-Barry Urie example No. 499, and Maunsell No. 828 – are being overhauled by the ULS and Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society respectively and will also “join the fleet in due course.”
A further two ex-Barry engines owned by the MHRPS – rebuilt ‘Battle of Britain’ No. 34058 Sir Frederick Pile and BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No. 80150 – do not currently have a place in the overhaul queue, but will continue to receive cosmetic attention and conservation work.
Engines reaching the end of their boiler certificates in this period are Locomotive Services Ltd’s ‘9F’ 2-10-0 No. 92212 (2019), National Collection ‘Schools’ 4-4-0 No. 925 Cheltenham (2021), Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-2T No. 41312 (2025) and BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-0 No. 76017 (2026).
The railway states: “If we execute all of the above, we can expect to have five to seven locomotives in service until 2030, with the exception of a shortfall in 2019/2020. Contingency plans to cover this shortfall have already been discussed, and we do not anticipate any difficulty hiring one or more locomotives over this period.
“We are now in the fortunate position of having a number of options, and for the first time in our history we will have the responsibility of keeping intact and well protected several locomotives that will be out of service awaiting their next overhaul for some time.”
This is a reference to the infamous head shunt at Ropley where out-of-ticket locomotives have been stored and deteriorated in the open – but, the railway adds: “We have established a working group to look at how we rework Ropley to achieve the undercover storage and other developments we need to safeguard the future of our fleet of engines.”
The MHR has been steadily building up its own collection of steam locomotives in recent years, following the well-publicised dispute with Mr Bunch that resulted in ‘N’ 2-6-0 No. 31874, ‘U’ 2-6-0s Nos. 31625 and 31806, ‘West Country’ No. 34016 Bodmin and No. 73096 all leaving the railway.