‘County’ 1014 takes shape with boiler in frames
CONSTRUCTION OF replica Hawksworth ‘County’ No. 1014 County of Glamorgan reached an important milestone on September 26, when its boiler was fitted to the frames.
The boiler – made using the modified firebox from now-scrapped Doncasterbuilt ‘8F’ No. 48518 and a new boiler barrel – was despatched from Heritage Boiler Steam Services of Huyton near Liverpool on July 6 and taken to Didcot Railway Centre, where the ‘County’s’ largely complete ‘bottom end’ resides. The boiler was then lowered onto the frames, originally from ‘Modified Hall’ No. 7927 Willington Hall, in Didcot’s lifting shop, creating the unmistakable outline of a Hawksworth ‘10XX’ 4-6-0 for the first time since 1965, when the last examples were scrapped.
“Having now established that the boiler will fit, a myriad of tasks awaits our engineering team, beginning with the measurements for the new ashpan, fully securing the smokebox to the rest of the boiler, fitting the inside and outside motion, and setting up the front end,” said 1014 County of Glamorgan Project press officer David Bradshaw. He added: “Once this is achieved, the boiler will return to HBSS where it will be completed. This will involve fitting the front tubeplate, the tubes and the superheater header, and undertaking an unofficial hydraulic test to ensure that there are no issues. It will then return to Didcot where final assembly will take place.”
Around £130,000 is still needed to complete No. 1014, ahead of its planned first steaming in 2024. To help, visit www.county1014.org