LSWR ‘T3’ boiler overhaul on course at the Flour Mill

RAPID progress is being made on the boiler of the Swanage RailwayTrust’sLSWR‘T3’4-4-0 No. 563 at the Flour Mill in the Forest of Dean.

The new copper inner firebox is now being test fitted inside the boiler. Work is on-going to fit the threaded bushes into the backhead and throat plate to enable the smallest size stays to be fitted into the inner firebox, helping to ensure the maximum service life is obtained.

The boiler is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

Discussions continue around finalising plans for the tender to go into the railway’s Herston Works, where it is hoped to begin dismantling in the near future.

The response from well-wishers to the T3nder Club launched in April, has been such that the cost of the key materials required has been covered – notably the replacement of the cast-iron brake rigging and some steel plate work.

The Club remains open for new members, however. Donations of £500 can be made as a lump sum or over five or ten months, which will help cover the estimated tender overhaul cost of just £50,000.

Meanwhile, the 563 Locomotive Group is appealing for information regarding the 4-4-0’s past from primary sources, notably that relating to its time in BR custodianship, 1948 restoration and preservation.

Visit 563locomotivegroup. co.uk for more details.

MATT MACMANUS Right: The new copper inner firebox.

POWER STATION NO MORE: ‘A1’ 4-6-2 No. 60163 Tornado worked the second of two Scottish Railway Preservation Society (SRPS) Forth Circle railtours on August 15. Running as 1Z41, the 13.51 Linlithgow to Inverkeithing via Alloa was photographed as it approached Kincardine. No. 60163 was carrying a wreath on its smokebox door as a tribute to former SRPS stalwart Ian Boettcher who sadly passed away last year. The image was captured by Ian Lothian, who writes: “I don’t think that we just photograph trains; I think we also record history. When I stood on the A876 Kincardine road bridge on that Sunday afternoon, it’s a bit sad but this shot of Tornado could well have been the last time that I will have photographed a train there with the Longannet Power Station chimney stack still in the picture. The rest of the former power station has now been demolished and when the remains are cleared, the chimney is then to come down.”

MATT MACMANUS Above: The boiler at the Flour Mill.