SECR Wainwright P-tank, No.178, currently running as "Pioneer II"The last of the four P-class tank locomotives to have steamed in preservation, 178 came to the Bluebell in 1969 after industrial service at Bowaters Paper Mill, where it carried the name "Pioneer II".
Its best chance of restoration was seen to be outside the Bluebell Railway's direct ownership, due to the railway already having two other Ps, and so it was sold to Southern Locomotives Ltd, who commenced its overhaul, at Sheffield Park. However, with the shift in emphasis of that group to become major providers of motive power to the Swanage Railway, it was decided more appropriate to transfer ownership of this 'P' class loco back to the Bluebell. This was achieved in mid 2006, thanks to funding made available by the Bluebell Railway Trust.
The overhaul was undertaken by the Loco Workshop working group, and the loco will run in full SECR lined green, after just a few weeks initially operating in its industrial guise as "Pioneer II".
LBSCR Billinton Radial Tank, No.B473
Web page and details of the last overhaul
The only surviving locomotive to a design by Robert Billinton, "Birch
Grove" is one of a family of locomotives known as Radial Tanks due
to the radial axle beneath the cab. Mixed traffic locomotives, they were
equally at home on local passenger workings as branch-line goods services.
Although almost the oldest, the E4s were amongst the last of the Brighton
Radials to survive.
"Birch Grove" itself was one of the first two Brighton locos to be repainted into Southern Railway livery, as B473, in February 1924. It was bought straight out of BR service in 1962 and served the Bluebell
for a decade before being withdrawn for a protracted stop-go overhaul. It
finally became operational again in 1998 thanks to a bequest which paid for the major boiler
repairs required and a team of volunteers who undertook some of the
easier boiler work and most of the remaining work, as is well recorded on
the following web
page.
Remarkably "Birch Grove" retains her original boiler, number 891, fitted new in July 1898. It had been passed to various other Brighton tanks of classes D3, E3 and E4 before being refitted to Birch Grove in 1960.
It was repainted from LBSCR umber livery (right) into BR lined black in February 2005, for a limited period. With a boiler still in good condition, its overhaul was started immediately following the expiry of its boiler certificate in May 2008, and after a major rebuild of its cylinders, which was the most significant item of work required, it re-entered service in January 2010, carrying 1920s Southern Railway olive green livery.
Rebuilt SR Bulleid Light Pacific, "Sir Archibald Sinclair"
Web Page
The Bulleid Society's comprehensive web pages
The identical "West Country" and "Battle of Britain" pacifics were built to provide increased power for use on the Southern's secondary main lines, especially those in the West country with weight restrictions. However, some of Bulleid's novel ideas, designed to reduce maintenance costs, proved troublesome. Therefore in 1957 a programme of rebuilding the locomotives along conventional lines was started. The rebuilding of the Bulleid light pacifics added several tons to their weight, but produced, to all intents, brand-new locomotives, whilst retaining the distinctive light-weight Bulleid-Firth-Brown wheels and his superb free-steaming boiler, along with many other of the successful innovative design features.
Rescued from Barry scrapyard in 1979 without a tender, this locomotive has since then been the subject of ongoing restoration work and fundraising. A tender underframe was salvaged from a steel-works, the original intention being to use this in conjunction with a new body. However this underframe was in poor condition, and in the end only some fittings from it were used, with the tender frames being constructed at Sheffield Park from new material. A new 5250-gallon tender body has been made, and placed on it.
The formal launch into Bluebell service, as the first rebuilt Battle of Britain to steam in preservation, performed by Viscount Thurso (grandson of Sir Archibald Sinclair, who was the wartime Secretary of State for Air from 1940) on 24th April 2009.
SECR Wainwright goods, No.592
After the amalgamation of the SER and the LCDR in 1899 it fell to Harry
Wainwright to put some order into the locomotive designs the new company
inherited. The C-class was his standard goods design, and served
the SECR, and in turn the SR and BR, well. The steam powered reverser on
this locomotive was most successful, and this design was to be found on
goods and shunting engines built by the SECR and the SR for more than 40
years afterwards.
Preserved initially at Ashford Works, it moved to the Bluebell in 1970, and finally entered service in 1975 after work on its boiler and a badly damaged axle journal. Its 1994 overhaul at the hands of volunteers saw it returned to service with a spare overhauled tender which we had been fortunate enough to obtain. In 2006-7 we overhauled the spare boiler which we have for this locomotive, since the firebox of the existing boiler was deemed beyond repair. Mechanically the locomotive was in reasonable order, although the condition of the cylinders may determine how long it runs after overhaul; it is thought likely to require a new cylinder block at a subsequent overhaul. It returned to service on 8th October 2007.
SR U-class, No.1638One of two U-class locomotives on the Bluebell Railway, both coming via Barry scrapyard, this one was privately purchased and donated to the Bluebell. It has been placed on long-term loan to the Maunsell Locomotive Society, who also own 1618, and was their main restoration project for over a decade. Having lost its tender whilst at Barry, a new one has been built, starting from the remains of a snowplough which in turn had been created using a Schools class locomotive tender as its base. The loco steamed for the first time in preservation in February 2006.
GWR Earl/Dukedog No.9017, "Earl of Berkeley"Nicknamed "Dukedogs" since they were an amalgamation a Bulldog and a Duke, the parts of this loco are thus actually older than the "building" date suggests. The 1938 rebuild of 3217 used the frames from "Bulldog" No.3425 (built 1906) and boiler and cab from "Duke" class No.3282 (originally named "Chepstow Castle" and built in 1899).
A few of the class carried the names of Earls, but 3217 did not receive its allocated name until preservation days. At the time the Earls in question indicated to the GWR that, if their names were to be used, they would prefer their names on something a little more prestigious, and so they were transferred to new Castle class locomotives.
This class of locos was widely used on the Cambrian lines. At the time this loco was saved for preservation the Bluebell was the only line where it could run, and it has been in Sussex ever since, apart from a few years spent at the Great Western Society, at Didcot.
BR Standard Tank No.80151The 4MT tank locomotives were closely linked to the last years of the Bluebell line, and although the last Brighton-built locomotive, 80154, escaped preservation, the Bluebell now plays host to three other members of the class, all one-time residents of Barry scrapyard. 80151 arrived from another preservation site in 1998 and returned to steam after the completion of its overhaul in October 2001.
LBSCR Stroudley Terrier, No.672 "Fenchurch"Stroudley's famous Terriers survived for decades after more modern designs had been scrapped, working on lightly laid Branch lines. Fenchurch was sold to the Newhaven Harbour Company, being light enough to cross a bridge within the docks. It came back into Southern Railway ownership, and continued for many years to work at Newhaven. It came to the Bluebell in 1964, having been for a number of years a celebrity as the oldest locomotive working on British Railways.
13236, a 350hp diesel shunter built in 1956, has been hired by the Bluebell Railway to assist with shunting and the construction of the extension to East Grinstead. It entered Bluebell service in mid-May 2008. As a short-term plant hire it is not part of the Bluebell's loco stock. It is based at Shackerstone (Battlefield Line) and is now painted in 1950s BR black livery with the early BR crest.
Note: Boiler Certificates. Steam locomotive boilers are certificated by the Insurance Company's inspector, initially for seven years from the date of pressure testing after overhaul. The dates given above assume that a mid-term boiler examination/test allows an extension to a full ten-year term. At the end of this period, unless a futher short extension is granted, the locos must be taken out of service for a boiler overhaul including a complete re-tube, and it is also usual at this time to undertake a full mechanical overhaul.
Last updated 26 February 2010 by Richard
Salmon.