Fleet changes at Tyseley

Kolhapur to be sold as Vintage Trains brand becomes GWR focussed.

LMS ‘Jubilee’ No. 5593 Kolhapur and GWR 0-6-0PT No. 7760 are to be sold by Tyseley Locomotive Works in order to allow sister company Vintage Trains (VT) to develop its core brand of running Great Westerndesigned locomotives and Pullman restaurant car trains.

The decision to de-accession and sell Kolhapur – which has not steamed since the late 1990s – is because it is considered non-standard where the remainder of the fleet comprises GWR locomotives. A further major factor is that the ‘Jubilee’ needs a major overhaul which has been estimated to cost £750,000.

VT has said that for around £100,000, its popular GWR 4-6-0 No. 4965 Rood Ashton Hall can be returned to traffic relatively quickly and funds are available for a 10-year boiler overhaul which is due to commence in March. There are also plans to modify the cylinders to fit almost anywhere within the Network Rail loading gauge.

Surprise move

However, the biggest surprise with Rood Ashton Hall is the decision – at a future point – to convert the loco to burn liquid fuel, based on the GWR oil firing system. There is a precedent as between 1947-1950, 11

‘Hall’ class locomotives were converted to oil burning.

Reasoning behind this move is that VT says it further improves the operator’s environmental footprint but also provides resilience against summer fire risk, which it considers is only likely to increase with warmer summers.

In respect of No. 7760, VT says that since purchase, all three panniers – Nos. 7752, 7760 and 9600 – have only ever been steamed once simultaneously and only two have ever been required to be used together on main line excursions at any one time. A review of requirements deemed No. 7760 (a former London Transport loco) surplus as it is identical to No. 7752.

Furthermore, to get No. 9600 into traffic, the loco needs a retube and stay work, however, No. 7752 needs new tyres which VT has in-house and is seeking donations for this work.

A move to focus the brand on GWR and at the same time augment restaurant car services is market led. ‘Shakespeare Express’ services are now loading to capacity for both the Pullman Sunday lunch and Tourist Afternoon Tea, and VT says it aims to provide additional capacity with an increased number of trains.

Turning to diesel operations, VT acknowledges a need to increase its operational diesel fleet to handle its ‘Explorer’ trains, private charters and provide support for steam operations, and plans to put Class 37 No. 37240 in traffic later this year once new wheel bearings have been fitted.

Separately, a plan for fitting Central Door Locking (CDL) has been approved by the Office of Rail & Road, and VT’s current exemption which will allow it to run trains without CDL expires on November 29.

Additionally, the fitment of controlled emission toilets to its stock has been completed and VT has publicly thanked Network Rail for its support on the project.

Improved catering

As part of a revised on-board offer, restaurant facilities will be improved, along with a plan to bring catering in-house, for which detailed work is ongoing to comply with food safety regulations.

Other news includes the acquisition of Mk.1 FO No. 3110, fitting a travelling bar in the

BFK carriage and the addition of kitchen facilities in the accessible BSO coach.

A decision has also been made to reactivate or add air braking equipment to the core dining train to provide dualbraking options.