THE ROSTER
LOCOMOTIVES IN FOCUS
Metropolitan Railway No. 1: The unique 0-4-4T (owned by Quainton Railway Society) is to stay at the Epping Ongar Railway for the 2019 season, having been in operation on the former London Underground line throughout 2018. It will take part in the line’s steam gala on June 7-9, as well as an event on September 27-29 to mark 25 years since the closure of the Ongar branch in 1994 and the subsequent inception of the preservation scheme.
Said EOR Acting General Manager Dean Walton: “‘Met 1’ has proved to be a popular and reliable engine, and although it is a little small for our needs, the chance to secure this lovely locomotive for another year was too good an offer to turn down.”
The railway’s own pair of ex-main line engines – GWR ‘Hall’ 4-6-0 No. 4953 Pitchford Hall and ‘5101’ 2-6-2T No. 4141
– are undergoing overhaul at Locomotive Maintenance Services of Loughborough, and Mr Walton said: “I certainly hope that we will see both locomotives back in service soon.”
Furness Railway Nos. 20 and 25: Both surviving FR ‘A5’ class 0-4-0 locomotives have taken significant steps forward in their respective overhauls, with the boiler of No. 20 lifted out of the frames at the Ribble Steam Railway on October 27. The boiler is now being prepared for nondestructive testing.
Built in 1863 and restored to its original tender engine condition in 1999, No. 20 was the oldest working standard gauge steam locomotive in Britain until its ‘ten year’ boiler certificate expired on July 8 (SR482) but its owning group, the Furness Railway Trust, is overhauling it for a further stint of operation.
On November 28, the trust took delivery of the frames of its 1865-built classmate, No. 25, from Carnforth. This locomotive, which remains in the saddle tank form into which six of the class were rebuilt for industrial service, was donated to the trust by the executors of the estate of the late Bert Hitchen (SR481).
Trust Chairman Tim Owen said: “This concludes the gathering together of known components of the locomotive from as far afield as Derby, Crewe, Carnforth and the North East.
“Once again, the FRT would like to thank both the executors and also those who have assisted the trust in locating and bringing together the kit of parts that will enable a project plan for restoration of this historic locomotive to be compiled.
“Significant physical progress on the FR 25 project is unlikely to take place until the overhaul of No. 20 has been completed.”
3850: In addition to its recently cast replacement cylinders (SR479), Dinmore Manor Locomotive Ltd’s ‘2884’ 2-8-0 is to have its front frame extensions replaced – the originals being bent from rough treatment in steam days. Fitting new extensions will simplify the process of aligning the new cylinders.
4160: Tubes are being installed in the boiler of the ‘Large Prairie’ at the Llangollen Railway and the firebox foundation ring has been riveted into place.
4936: Kinlet Hall’s driving wheel tyres have been re-profiled at Tyseley Locomotive Works and the Collett 4-6-0 is expected to be re-wheeled soon.
506: Former ‘King Arthur’ boiler No. 755 – destined for Urie ‘S15’ No. 506 – has had its first fire lit for 17 years and passed its insurance steam test.
The out-of-frames test took place at the Mid-Hants Railway’s Ropley shed on November 30, paving the way for the boiler to be refitted to the Urie Locomotive Society’s 4-6-0 in preparation for the engine’s return to service – which society Chairman Mark Pedley estimates will take place “late in the first quarter or early in the second quarter” of 2019.
Having passed its hydraulic test around a fortnight earlier, the test was the first steaming for the boiler – originally fitted to ‘King Arthur’ No. 755 The Red Knight – since 2001, when No. 506 was withdrawn from MHR service.
The boiler has already been trial-fitted into the engine’s frames, as pictured in SR485. Said Mr Pedley: “I asked our engineer Barry Stratton how that felt and he said: ‘It feels surreal!’”
The steam test has ‘started the clock ticking’ on the boiler’s ‘ten-yearly’ certification, but along with its refitting and piping-up, other jobs outstanding on No. 506 include the completion of a new ashpan (SR485) and riveting work on the frames of the tender bogies.
Boiler No. 755 was the second to be carried by No. 506 during its previous stint of operation on the ‘Watercress Line’; the locomotive first returned to steam from Barry scrapyard condition in 1987 with boiler No. 799, originally from ‘King Arthur’ Sir Ironside and which is now being restored for the group’s other Urie ‘S15’, No. 499.
928: Maunsell ‘Schools’ class Stowe, at the Bluebell Railway, is a ‘4-2-0’ rather than a 4-4-0 at present, with its frames having been placed on the bogie and rear driving wheelset, but work is still in progress on the crank axle, with a contractor re-profiling its journals. It is expected to be fully re-wheeled in early 2019, after its Maunsell stablemate – ‘Q’ 0-6-0 No. 30541 – has received similar attention to its bottom end, including machining of the crank axle journals and re-metalling of the axleboxes, to cure a ‘knock’ that has been occurring when the locomotive is under steam.
In another step forward for the ‘V’ class, the copper firebox has returned to Sheffield Park from the Mid-Hants Railway after receiving repairs to the doorplate and tubeplate, new lower side sheets being welded into place and the whole assembly riveted together by Andy Netherwood of APN (Heritage) Engineering Services.
Owned by the Maunsell Locomotive Society and last steamed in 1990, Stowe is expected to return to service in 2020 once ‘Battle of Britain’ No. 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair has been outshopped from the works at Sheffield Park (see over). ●● Another ‘Schools’ temporarily without all its wheels recently was
No. 926 Repton on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, whose driving wheelsets were sent to Tyseley for tyre re-profiling as part of its winter maintenance.
34059: With its boiler returned to the Bluebell Railway from the South Devon Railway after receiving a replacement inner firebox (SR484), the rebuilt ‘Battle of Britain’ 4-6-2 will become the main priority in Sheffield Park works once the overhaul of BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No. 80151 is complete (see below). Bluebell Locomotive Director Chris Hunford said: “We have already begun measuring and ordering the firebox stays for No. 34059, along with ordering the tools required for their installation. With a fair wind, it is our intention to have it running in 2019.”
60007: All the major work is complete on Sir Nigel Gresley’s frames and wheels at the National Railway Museum in York and they are ready to be reunited. Meanwhile, in Llangollen, the ashpan has been fitted to the boiler, but a few expected adjustments are required to achieve a good fit with the firebox foundation ring. The boiler will soon be turned the correct way up, the new tubes fitted and steam testing will begin, for which the overhauled superheater will be transferred from York to Llangollen.
The reverser has now been refitted in the cab, which will allow work to start on refitting the linkages. Otherwise, the main focus is currently the 90-year-old tender, which was found to be in generally good condition with corrosion limited to external surfaces, and repairs to platework are under way. With the tank separated from the frames, access was possible to modify electrical conduits and air system pipework. Measurements of the tender frames are now complete for the bearing dimensions to be calculated.
Despite ‘No. 7’ having been out of traffic since 2015, the recent
annual general meeting of the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust hosted a record attendance and the group reports a year-on-year rise of 20-25% in volunteer days on the overhaul, with 1,118 days being worked in the 12 months prior to the meeting.
71000: Following an inspection of Duke of Gloucester’s driving wheelsets at Tyseley, it has been decided to remove both wheels from the leading (crank) axle in order to take off the roller bearings for overhaul or replacement – these being the original items fitted to the unique Riddles ‘8P’ 4-6-2 when it was built in 1954. Quotations for this work have been requested.
Orders have been placed for all the engine’s new Caprotti cams (see SR487 Roster), while the washout plug appeal has raised £2,150, with a few plugs still available to sponsor, and the appeal to overhaul the Mk 2 support coach has reached £7,000 (see SR485 Roster). Donations can be sent to Aurora House, Deltic Avenue, Rooksley, Milton Keynes MK13 8LW, or made at www.theduke.uk.com 80151: The bottom half of the youngest surviving BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T is described as “90% complete” by Bluebell Railway Locomotive Director Chris Hunford, requiring final assembly of the valve gear before the boiler is placed back into the frames, pipework added and cab fittings installed.
The boiler itself has received replacement firebox crown stays where required, and will shortly have its tubes and superheater flues fitted.
It had been hoped to outshop the Brighton-built Riddles tank in 2018 but, said Mr Hunford: “It is making good progress. However, the scope of the work has grown since our initial assessment. The overhaul will run into the early part of 2019, but we hope to have it running by Easter.”