FAREWELL 80072... STALWART STANDARD TANK BOWS OUT AT LLANGOLLEN
Hard-working BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No. 80072 hauled its last trains at the Llangollen Railway on June 30 before being withdrawn for overhaul.
It was the final day of its extended ‘ten-year’ boiler certificate, which had originally been due to expire on January 1 – the locomotive having moved under its own steam for the first time in preservation at Llangollen on August 7 2009, following restoration from Barry scrapyard condition.
Since then, it has been a stalwart performer on the LR, and has toured many other
preserved lines, including the Severn Valley, Churnet Valley, North Yorkshire Moors and West Somerset railways.
It also made history in September 2016 when it ran at Midsomer Norton in the guise of scrapped classmates Nos. 80041 and 80043, becoming the first Standard 2-6-4T on the Somerset & Dorset line since the latter two engines hauled the last train in 1966.
It now requires a full boiler and mechanical overhaul, and it is already known that the tanks and bunker will need to be replaced at an estimated cost of £85,000.
Llangollen volunteer George Jones said: “This is a big financial challenge for its owners and supporting charity, the Llangollen Standard 4 Trust. Once it is dismantled the costs might be better known, but as usual the engine hasn’t earned its keep over ten years and continued support is needed. Gift Aided donations can be sent to the LS4T c/o Llangollen station.” cylinder re-bore, with the possibility that new cylinder liners will be required, and a cracked right-hand piston head which will require repair or replacement.
31874: A return to steam in 2020 is in prospect for the unique surviving Maunsell ‘N’ class 2-6-0 at the Swanage Railway, with its boiler nearing the end of a major overhaul at Northern Steam Engineering of Stockton-on-Tees. The locomotive’s bottom half is complete at Herston works and ready to receive the boiler, which is expected to return later this year.
James Cox, head of engineering at Swanage, said in early July: “The firebox work is all done, and the smoke tubes have been ordered and paid for – if they’re not there already, they will be delivered any day now – and the superheater elements are already in stock.
“It could be finished around August, but we’ve said we’d rather they didn’t rush it.
“We’re expecting delivery this
autumn, but then we’ve got to make new boiler cladding and crinolines before we lift it into the frames.”
The Woolwich Arsenal-built locomotive is one of three Maunsell ‘Moguls’ which are owned by John Bunch and the subject of a 25-year lease to the Swanage Railway, signed in 2014 (SR430). The others are ‘Us’ Nos. 31806, whose boiler certificate runs until 2021, and 31625, which is in store awaiting overhaul. “The boilers are interchangeable, so we’ve always got the option of swapping them round,” said Mr Cox.
34070: A shareholder of Southern Locomotives Ltd has agreed to match-fund the overhaul of ‘Battle of Britain’ Manston. Explained SLL chairman Simon Troy: “The overhaul cost is reckoned to be at least £80,000, so if our shareholders can contribute £40k, the balance will come from the sponsor.”
For SLL shareholder details, email southernlocos@btinternet.com LMS & CONSTITUENTS
48624: July 27/28 will be the final weekend in traffic for the Southern Railway-built ‘8F’ at the Great Central Railway. Its ‘ten-year’ boiler certificate expires on July 31, having been extended from last August (see also pages 40-41).
It brings an end to the line’s brief period with two of the Stanier 2-8-0s available for traffic, the other being freshly overhauled No. 48305 (see The Big Picture, pages 40/41).
Tim Oaks, a director of the owning 48624 Locomotive Company, said: “We are hoping to organise a gathering of ‘8F’ members and friends of the engine at Loughborough on Saturday 27.”
“The locomotive has received absolutely first class care at the GCR, both in operation and maintenance. It has also had a good business plan from the beginning, for which I take no credit whatsoever.”
BR STANDARD
80078 : Stewart Robinson’s BR ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T is the first of two guest locomotives to be confirmed for the North Norfolk Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala on August 30-September 1. Currently at the Mid-Norfolk Railway, the Riddles tank is due to be at the Mangapps Railway Museum on the preceding August Bank Holiday weekend, for the Essex centre’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
80105: With its frames now fully re-wheeled at the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, the motion, brake rigging and pipework are being refitted to the ‘Standard 4’ 2-6-4T, while new pistons are being machined and the boiler is ready to receive its new tubes.
Owned by Locomotive Owners Group (Scotland) Ltd, No. 80105 was the 99th engine to return to steam from Barry scrapyard, on December 11 1999. It was withdrawn on the expiry of its boiler certificate in September 2010.