Two of Mike Esau's photos of the unique-surviving Maunsell Q-class locomotive.
Built as a basic goods engine to replace life-expired pre-grouping locomotives, this was Maunsell's final design as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway. It could be described as a competent though not outstanding engine. Bulleid, Maunsell's successor, improved the draughting arrangements with a multiple blast-pipe arrangement and new chimney (fitted in December 1946), and it was in this condition that 541 remained for the rest of its working career.
Allocated from new to Guildford shed, and running mainly on the Redhill line, it moved to Three Bridges in 1947, followed by a temporary move to Stewarts Lane in 1953, soon going on to Bournemouth for ten years, where it was often seen on the Swanage and Lymington branches. Then after a couple of months at Basingstoke it returned to Guildford in March 1963 for its final 18 months until withdrawn in 1964. Sent to Barry scrapyard, like many other locos there it escaped the cutter's torch and was bought by preservationists.
In May 1974 it was recovered from Barry (having been purchased the previous year by the 'Southern Q Fund'), going to Ashchurch in Gloucestershire. Due to the impending loss of the main-line connection at Ashchurch which would have trapped it on the site, it moved on in 1978 to the Bluebell, where its owning group (by then known as the 'Maunsell Q Locomotive Preservation Society') merged with those of U-class No. 1618 and S15 No. 847 to form the Maunsell Locomotive Society.
During its restoration, the blast pipe and chimney arrangement were further modified using BR Class 4 components, in the same way as BR had done to some of the class. This has the advantage of returning the locomotive visually to very close to its original form. Major restoration work saw it return to steam in 1983, operating for the following decade in Maunsell livery as No. 541.
An overhaul started in July 2011, and the Loco Works Working Group, who started by overhauling the tender, also assisted with work on the loco itself. It returned to service on 28 April 2015, carrying BR livery as No. 30541. Receiving a major valve and piston exam in 2017, its cylinders were re-bored and steam pipes and piston rods replaced early in 2022. Firebox defects however saw it withdrawn from service a couple of years earlier than had been hoped. Being in mechanically fairly good condition, an immediate overhaul is now under way, with much of the work being contracted out to speed progress, since our workshops are already at full capacity.
Photo Left: 30541 at East Grinstead, Brian Lacey, 8 April 2015
Class: Q
Wheels: 0-6-0
Class Introduced: 1938
Designer: Richard Maunsell
Built: January 1939 at Eastleigh Works
Purpose: Goods and occasional passenger
Total number built: 20
Numbers carried: 541, 30541
Withdrawn from BR service: November 1964
Preserved: 21 September 1973
Arrived on Bluebell Railway: 5 October 1978
Length: 53ft 9in overall
Weight - Locomotive: 49 Tons 10 cwt
Tender: 40 Tons 10 cwt
Water capacity: 3,500 Gallons
Coal capacity: 5 Tons
Boiler Pressure: 200 lb/sq.in
Driving Wheels: 5ft 1in diameter
Cylinders: (2, inside) 19" x 26"
Tractive Effort: 26,160 lbs
Engine brake: Vacuum
BR power classification: 4F
Current status: Overhaul in progress - News reports available here
Earlier service on the Bluebell: November 1983 - July 1992, April 2015 - January 2023
Record of the overhaul completed in April 2015
Owner: Maunsell Locomotive Society - Their web page for 541
See also a photo of the loco being towed to Barry in 1965.
