‘FIVE’ FAILS TO MAKE THE GRADE
No. 45231 forced to hand over the honour of hauling the ‘Sugar Loaf Mountaineer’ to a diesel after failing fitness exam.
“
It was just impossible to get everything done, even though we burned the midnight oil.”
This was Peter Greenwood’s verdict on the no-show of the Locomotive Services Ltd ‘Black Five’ No. 45231 for the ‘Sugar Loaf Mountaineer’ on September 23. The LMS 4-6-0 had been due to run from Shrewsbury over the Central Wales line; the Arrivabacked job went with a ‘37’ instead.
“We were working on it right up to the last minute,” says Peter, “but it failed its FTR [Fitness to Run exam]… we really, really wanted to do this.
“It was just a hill too far,” Peter says. “You know, when you climb a hill and think ‘I’ll be alright with this one’, but discover there’s another steep climb right behind it.” That disappointment means the engine’s ‘duck’ so far this year continues – the 4-6-0 has effectively been out of the public eye since running last autumn, and on Santa specials at the Mid-Hants Railway, before it moved first to Southall and then Crewe for work to be done.
“Our plan initially was that from about May time to the end of the year it would be at the Severn Valley Railway, with the exception of this trip, but the to-do list kept getting bigger.
“It was at Crewe, it was submitted for FTR, there was an issue with the ashpan guards.”
Tasks have included replacement of pipework (only deemed necessary following inspection, as part of an injector overhaul), replacement of the blower valve and work on the ashpan.
The FTR took place on September 21. But getting so near still doesn’t necessarily mean steaming is now close: the tour was a rare piece of work in a deserted diary for ‘5231’.
“It only had one booking and that was last Sunday,” Peter explained on September 25, “so that was the target.
“The pressure to get it done is now gone, although obviously we still want to finish it.”
By Peter’s reckoning, “there’s not likely to be that much” work for the engine either “because it’s still only vacuum‑braked.”
Fitting air‑braking to match the rest of the LSL main line fleet is still on the ‘to do’ list – but only ‘as and when’.
●● Although not unique, the planned Central Wales job was still pretty unusual for train operator DB Cargo in using a vacuum‑brake only engine. Nearly all of that company’s jobs have been with air‑braked locomotives, following a policy change several years ago.