Milestone reached
Fundraising for overhaul of Embsay ‘Austerity’ reaches 80% of estimated cost.
THE Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway has reached an important milestone in the restoration of the only steam locomotive wholly owned by the line, Hunslet ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Wheldale (3168/1944).
Fundraisers have raised the sum of £200,000 towards the estimated £250,000 cost of the overhaul and this was celebrated by a short ceremony at Embsay station on September 1, with chairman Rob Shaw and railway volunteers displaying a board with the message “£200,000”.
Embsay spokesman, John Beesley, said the chassis is now being overhauled at Statfold Barn, which has involved stripping it down, assessing and then repairing. These repairs have included machining all the hornblocks and then refitting them square to the chassis, regrinding the slidebars then refitting, and work to the cylinder block including repairing the end covers and replacing all metal packings. The railway’s painter, John Furness, alongside other Embsay volunteers, has then been painting the repaired chassis and wheels. In the meantime, the boiler has been removed, with the life expired firebox being taken out, the boiler shell being blast cleaned inside and out and a non-destructive test being undertaken. The way forward for the boiler repair is being planned.
Services are being maintained by East Lancashire Railway-based Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway ‘A’ class 0-6-0 No. 52322 alongside resident Hunslet 16ins 0-6-0ST Beatrice (2705/45) – while Furness Railway Trust-owned ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria (3794/53) is about to join them following a retube.