Latest News   26th May 2010

After nine years and 78,635 miles on the West Somerset Railway between 1995 and 2004, 7820 is now at Tyseley Locomotive Works, Birmingham, for overhaul. The boiler from 7820 is at Riley & Son, Bury under contract repair.

Recent additions  2874 & 3845 are both in store in the midlands awaiting restoration

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   7820    3850

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Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway GWR 175 Gala:

We will be having a promotional stand alongside 3845 on these dates of the event. Saturday the 29th to the Sunday 31st of May and Friday the 4th to Sunday the 6th of June. If you are visiting please do come and say hello, we will be pleased to answer any questions you may have about our group and our engines.

7820 :

7820’s boiler was delivered to Riley & Son in November and work soon commenced with the removal of the smokebox and front tubeplate allowing a more detailed inspection to be carried  out to determine the full extent of the repairs needed. The boiler barrel is in good condition but some quite extensive parts of the outer steel firebox are to replaced, which means that new lower sections will be welded in to the sideplates, backplate and throatplate. The inner firebox tubeplate and door plate are being removed for repair, mostly to cracking in the top flanges and the replacement of the lower section of the laps. At present, the areas which require renewal have been removed as a pattern for replacement. There will now be a short pause until the new material is delivered before the serious work of re-assembly can begin.

We were disappointed that uncertainties at Williton meant that contract documents for the repair of 7820’s frames were further delayed and by Christmas, with no contract to sign and no clear idea of when work could start (or finish), we were becoming anxious that the frames might not be repaired in time to receive the boiler, when completed. We therefore decided it would be prudent to enquire if other contractors would be able to carry out the work within the time we have available and, having established that at least three other parties were interested, we then took the decision to re-tender the work.

All parties were invited to submit (or in the case of Williton, re-submit)  their price for our fixed scope of work and of the four offers we received, the most attractive - and indeed the most comprehensive - was from Tyseley Locomotive Works, 7820 moved to Tyseley a couple of weeks later and is about to enter the works as soon as the wheel drop is free. 7820 was first restored at Tyseley and was completed in 1994 before entering traffic on the WSR the following year.

3850:

Now back in traffic after receiving winter maintenance 3850 should see almost daily use inbetween washouts througout the summer months. Another heritage railway has expressed an interest in hiring the engine for a short period in the early part of 2011, we are currently at the negotiation stage and should be able to make an announcement a little later in the year.

3845:

Due to move to Toddington on the 26th of May for static display at their GWR 175 gala before moving on to our Midlands base for storage in the short term.

2874:

Is now in store at our site in the Midlands having been delivered in December. A number of missing parts, coupling rods, valve gear components etc. have been obtained recently and put into store.
 

Tender T2928: 

Restoration of the tender to be paired with Dinmore Manor once complete has taken a few strides forward of late with the specialist welding of new replacement sections of frames and fabrication of dragbox components by our volunteers.  All our on site machinery is now up and running and machining of brake gear pins has commenced.  Phoenix Engineering are constructing a new 3,500 gallon tank which is due to be completed in the next 6 months.

Shareholders Driving and Firing days:

Our ever popular Shareholders Driving and Firing days were held on the 4th and 5th of November in typically changeable conditions, one year we may have some decent weather! In a change from recent courses hauling a short rake of freight wagons we elected to haul a 10 coach train to provide a reasonable load, a buffet coach was in the formation for lunch on the go and all who participated thoroughly enjoyed the experience, even those that got wet.... Particular thanks must go to the WSR Drivers and Firemen who volunteered to crew our train for the two days allowing us to have a little 'play time' with our engine, makes a change from wielding a grinder, paintbrush etc.! If you would like to drive 3850 on one of our future courses please Contact Us

With our locomotive fleet expanding additional members and volunteers are needed more than ever! Please Contact Us if you may be interested in joining  a friendly bunch of volunteers at our regular working parties either at Tyseley or our restoration base in the Midlands.

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With thanks to Kieran Hardy for editing and framing images used on this site

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