‘The Duke’ returns to steam at Ecclesbourne
BR ‘8P’ No. 71000 isn’t the only ‘Duke’ to have returned to steam in recent weeks, as Bagnall ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Works No. 2746 has re-entered traffic at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway.
Named ‘The Duke’, the 1944-built locomotive underwent a successful hydraulic test on December 18, and a steam test and formal inspection on December 19. At the time of going to press, the ex-War Department locomotive (originally No. 75158) was expected to appear at the EVR’s ‘Winter Steam in the Valley’ gala on December 31/January 1, where it was due to steam alongside BR Standard ‘2MT’ No. 78018 – currently on loan from the Great Central Railway – and ‘4MT’ 2-6-4T No. 80080, as well as the EVR’s resident Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST Works No. 2360 ‘Brian Harrison’.
Sold to the National Coal Board in 1962, No. 2746 ended its working days at the NCB’s Featherstone Colliery near Wakefield. It was purchased by a group of Peak Rail members in 1983 and moved to the line’s Buxton site, returning to steam there in 1988. It moved to the railway’s Darley Dale site in 1990 and, during its period in service, spent time disguised as ex-Cromford & High Peak Railway ‘J94’ No. 68012.
Last steamed in 2000, ‘The Duke’ – a name acquired in the preservation era
– moved to the EVR in November 2010 for overhaul. The ‘Austerity’ has had a new bunker fabricated by Locomotive Maintenance Services of Loughborough, as well as a new ashpan, new boiler backhead, new foundation ring, new lower firebox outer sides, a new copper firebox tubeplate, a new steel smokebox tubeplate, and a new smokebox and door, as well as new longitudinal and crown stays. Israel Newton & Sons of Cromford supplied a new main steam pipe, while the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway supplied a new blastpipe casting. The locomotive also had a new chimney cast using a pattern supplied by the Ribble Steam Railway, while volunteers from 48624 Locomotive Ltd have also assisted with No. 2746’s return to steam at the EVR.
The locomotive has also been reverted back to a more authentic NCB condition, with its new livery inspired by its final NCB colour scheme, while the whistle is an authentic Hunslet item, purchased from a whistle collector at Barrow Hill Roundhouse who originally bought it from the NCB.