GOING IT ALONE: BAGNALL IS HOLDING THE LINE AT BODMIN
An ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST is once again the sole working steam locomotive on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway, following the withdrawal of ‘42XX’ No. 4247.
Harking back to the early days of the preservation scheme, when Hunslet ‘Austerity’ Swiftsure was the staple motive power, the Cornish Steam Locomotive Preservation Society’s Bagnall example
No. 75178 (Works No. 2766) is single-handedly working the line’s steam services.
Churchward 2-8-0T No. 4247 has been stopped because of wear in the ‘bottom end’, and is described by BWR Publicity Officer Jimmy James as “a long-term casualty”.
He said: “It’s nothing drastic but it’s basically worn out after all these years of pounding up our gradients, and is now at the back of the queue for the workshops.
“One of the problems the owners have to consider is re-tyring. We can
safely assume it won’t be running again this year, and there doesn’t seem to be anything out there for hire that’s suitable for five-coach trains on our gradients for the main season.”
It had been hoped to have one of the line’s two pannier tanks, ‘8750’ No. 4612 and ‘64XX’
No. 6435, back in action for Easter following repairs to firebox cracks on both engines. As this issue went to press, a return to steam for the latter was anticipated in late May or early June.
Explained Mr James: “Keeping the ‘Austerity’ running has taken up a lot of time for our small engineering team, who now seem to have solved its hot axlebox problem. With anything more than a three-coach train, we have to ‘top and tail’ with a diesel, which has its operational challenges, finding a crew for an unscheduled diesel being one of them. Work has therefore slipped on the two panniers and the ‘Prairie’.”
The latter refers to the ‘ten-yearly’ overhaul of ‘4575’ 2-6-2T No. 5552, on which the boiler is expected to be returned to the frames soon following the installation of the tubes. Its valves are being overhauled and the rear pony truck is in place, while push-pull equipment is to be fitted at a later date so that it can act as a back-up to No. 6435 for autotrains.
The BWR has a new chief mechanical engineer, Peter Phillipps, following the retirement of previous incumbent Martyn Blackwell. Mr Phillipps has already been a contract engineer at the line for many years, including working on the restoration of ‘West Country’ No. 34007 Wadebridge.