Help Western Ranger to return to action

SEVERN Valley Railwaybased Western Locomotive Association (WLA) has made good progress overhauling Class 52 No. D1013 Western Ranger over the last few years – and it is now appealing to well-wishers to help fund the outstanding tasks.

The loco has received thousands of hours of volunteer work. To date, this has been above the solebar level, including a full re-wire, component overhauls such as the pre-heaters, fuel pumps, cooler groups and fans, cardan shafts, exhausters, air receivers, cab desks and internal paintwork. This is in addition to on-going overhaul of its two Bristol Siddeley Maybach MD655 V12 engines.

Overhaul

The loco’s previous major overhaul was at BR’s Swindon Works, more than 45 years ago and was the last time the body was lifted from its bogies. A full bogie overhaul is now needed in order to give it a new lease of life for another 150,000 miles over the next 40 years or so. This requires the bogies to be freed for an initial assessment, prior to being completely stripped down, cleaned, overhauled, repaired and re-assembled. The wheelsets need to be re-tyred as they are virtually lifeexpired. Much of this work will be carried out by specialist engineering companies. After discussions with contractors, it is known a re-tyre will cost around £27,000 for each bogie, while a full bogie overhaul has been estimated in the region of £350,000 per bogie. This is a massive undertaking for any group and in addition to volunteer ‘hands-on’ help, financial support is being sought from private donations and sponsorship, together with an application for National Heritage Lottery Fund (NHLF) funding. The WLA needs to raise at least £20,000 (5%), of which £13,000 had already been accrued by August.

Support

It had been hoped to complete this work in time to mark No. D1013’s 60th birthday on December 13. While this will not be possible, it is still planned to celebrate the occasion. For this and display at the recent autumn diesel gala it has received cosmetic attention, including bodywork repairs and a partial repaint, along with the yellow warning panels. This retains its longstanding blue, but on return to service it will be repainted in BR maroon to comply with WLA members’ requirement as voted for at an annual meeting. Visit www. westernlocomotives.com for details of how you can help.