News of some of these overhauls is
available via the Loco Works News pages
LBSCR Stroudley Terrier, No.55 "Stepney"
Web page.
Stroudley's famous Terriers survived for decades after more modern
designs had been scrapped, working on lightly laid Branch lines. Here
these diminutive engines were often the only engines light enough to cross
some particular bridge. In later years "Stepney" was particularly
associated with the Hayling Island branch, until sold to the Bluebell
Railway in May 1960 as our first locomotive.
Repainted into Stroudley's famous "Improved Engine Green" gamboge livery, it has been a favourite of many children, and some of those children are now introducing their own children to "Stepney the Bluebell Engine". In spite of its fame, "Stepney" has spent considerable periods out of traffic in its forty years on the Bluebell, but its popularity always causes it to bounce back to the top of the railway's priorities.
The plan is that over the coming months the minimum boiler work to get the loco back into steam for our 50th anniversary celebrations will be done, and Stepney will then remain available for limited service for as long as it does not require major repairs. At its next major overhaul it will require new cylinders, the castings for which are already to hand, and significant work on the frames.
SECR Wainwright P-tank, No.323
Long the flagship of the Bluebell's fleet, painted blue (Photo:
Right) and named "Bluebell" between 1961 and 1998, this loco was
repainted into SE&CR wartime plain green livery, for the 1999 centenary
of the SE&CR (Photo: above).
The P-class tank locomotives were, in design terms, an updated copy of the LBSCR Terriers, but, with only eight of them built, made rather less of a name for themselves. However, with four of the eight surviving into preservation, they have blossomed, and are now much more favourably regarded as highly capable little locomotives. Their greater water capacity and larger cabs give them a slight advantage over the considerably older Terriers.
There is a web page for the P-Class Fund:
an appeal to raise the funds for the overhaul which started towards the end of 2003. The locomotive is partially dismantled, but the overhaul was suspended whilst the workshops concentrated on larger locomotives. Then in September 2009 the loco entered the works and was lifted from its wheels, signifying the re-starting of its overhaul, with the intention that it be completed in time for our 50th anniversary celebrations in August 2010.
South Eastern & Chatham Railway No.263
Built as the standard loco for the SECR's suburban services, the H-class
were a popular loco in later years for services on rural branch lines in
Sussex, especially after the withdrawal of the LBSCR D3 tanks. This
particular locomotive ended up working the line between East Grinstead and
Three Bridges and was withdrawn when that line was closed in January 1964.
Purchased from BR by the H-Class Trust, it was initially located at
Robertsbridge, but soon found a home at the South Eastern Steam Centre at
Ashford, where the engine appeared at various open days. However, in 1975
the Trustees decided that the locomotive would have much more scope for
running if based on the Bluebell. Since then it has had two periods in
steam. In 2008 ownership was transferred to the Bluebell Railway Trust, which is funding an overhaul which started in March 2009.
BR Standard, No.73082 "Camelot"
Owned by the 73082 Camelot Locomotive Society
Photo by courtesy of Hiroshi
Naito
"Camelot" was one of the Southern Region's allocation of Standard
5s, and when the King Arthur class, which they replaced, were
being withdrawn, a staff suggestion led to the names being transferred to
the new engines. Modern engines with roller bearings, highly capable and
easy to maintain, they were withdrawn long before they were worn out thanks
to BR's rush to get rid of steam in the 1960s.
A survivor of Barry Scrapyard, "Camelot" is the only remaining one of these named Standard 5s. It was returned to working order thanks to the dedication of the Camelot Society, which carried out fund-raising and engineering work. The latter included the construction of a brand-new tender body, fitted to frames recovered from a South Wales Ironworks, since, like so many Barry locos, it had lost its tender. It was a core member of the Bluebell's loco fleet for the decade after it returned to traffic in 1995.
The Camelot Locomotive Society recently prepared the loco for a boiler lift, and the overhaul is now under way.
SR Maunsell S15-class No.847This class of locomotives, of which this was the final locomotive to be built, were essentially a goods version of the King Arthur class of express passenger locos (N15). The S15s thus became known as Goods Arthurs. Coming to the Bluebell from Barry scrapyard in 1978, its restoration was not started until the Maunsell Society had completed the restoration of their Q-class locomotive in 1983.
The boiler received its hydraulic test in 1988, and although it did not enter service at that time, regulations retrospectively applied mean that the boiler certificate, valid for ten years, started ticking from that test. Hence after a relatively short spell in traffic it was withdrawn for overhaul. The Maunsell Locomotive Society then carried out as much preparatory work for the boiler lift as is possible, whilst maintaining the loco in a presentable condition for display.
The overhaul commenced in earnest in October 2006, with some of funds to finance the overhaul (in the Bluebell's own workshop) already available.
Dorking Greystone Lime Company, No.3 "Baxter"
Lewis Nodes has provided a video clip of
Baxter
working the Vintage Goods train in September 1997. The file is a 6MB
Mpeg.
"Baxter" arrived at the Bluebell in 1960 after spending its working life at
the Dorking Greystone Lime Works at Betchworth station. It was only in 1982
that it returned to traffic after a comprehensive overhaul.
"Baxter" runs a very low mileage each year, so, having received a major mechanical overhaul in the early 1980s and a boiler overhaul ten years later, following the expiry of its boiler certificate in July 2000 it was not expected to take much effort to give it another ten-year certificate. However various items have needed rather more work than expected, and the opportunity is also being taken to fit steam heating and vacuum braking equipment for the first time. This work is being undertaken by the volunteer team who most recently undertook the overhaul of "Fenchurch".
LBSCR Class H2This is our project to reconstruct a Brighton H2 Atlantic based on SR/BR period "Beachy Head". It is based around a suitable boiler which was obtained some years ago, and the project is now moving ahead rapidly, with a building constructed to accommodate the components, the frames cut, wheels cast, and the tender chassis nearly complete. Various other original H2 components have been given to the project, including the locomotive's original regulator handle, and a class identification plate.
The photo shows Brighton Atlantic No.32424 "Beachy Head" at Horsted Keynes with the Locomotive Club of Great Britain "Southern Counties Limited", 24th February 1957.
BR Standard Class 2
The photo by Jon Horrocks shows the loco's frames with its boiler behind (under the green tarpaulin).
The 2MT locomotives were built for light branch-line work. The tender engines, as this loco was originally, were almost unknown even as visitors to the South, whereas the 2MT tanks were used extensively on the Southern Region. Thus, when this loco was rescued from Barry scrapyard without a suitable tender being available, the decision was taken to restore the locomotive in the tank-engine form, of which there are no surviving examples. The last 2MT tank having been numbered 84029, this locomotive will take the next number in the sequence.
The project is now making progress, and news reports are available here.
Howard Petrol-engined locomotive
Web Page
Web page for Overhaul
Built by Howards in 1926, No 957 was used to shunt their agricultural implement and railway wagon factory sidings in Bedford. The Britannia Iron & Steel Works Ltd took over the site in 1932 to make pipe fittings and continued using it until a larger shunting loco was obtained in 1965. Through the intervention of a local enthusiast the company presented 957 to the Bluebell Railway where it was used for light shunting until about 1969. Under the auspicies of the Alf Brown Group an overhaul was begun in the 1970s at Horsted Keynes which had to include new wheelsets, and is now close to completion.
Last update 26 February 2010 by Richard Salmon.