Awake the Giant
9F No. 92240 Restoration
On this page: Donate – Latest News – Who is ‘The Giant’? – Leaflet See also More about 92240
Fundraising to restore 9F No. 92240
We need your help…
To awaken, only let rest & not sleep!
With the 9F now out of action for around two decades, a new approach is needed to get this giant running. Andy Taylor, a volunteer from the locomotive department, is at the forefront of a new idea: sustainable funding.
- Sustainable funding is when you can predict the income coming in and not rely on one-off donations, i.e. you can forward plan.
- Regular donations of £15 a month (£18.75 with gift aid) to restore 92240.
- Once 92240 has been restored, the fund will continue to support the next overhaul (meaning the locomotive will be out of traffic for a shorter amount of time).
- The end goal would be to have the restoration of many locomotives funded this way and therefore increase the locomotive pool.
This would enable the Bluebell Railway to once more have not only one of the largest collections of steam locomotives in Britain, but to have the largest WORKING collection!
News … News … News
The latest News Update – April 2023 is now available to download as a PDF.
Work continues in preparation for the locomotive’s overhaul at Sheffield Park. In early March 92240 was moved undercover for the first time in many years. This enabled the locomotive to dry out. This photo shows 92240’s tender being prepped for repainting, in the loco running shed as of 21 March 2023.
In addition, work has been taking place inside the tender water tank, to prepare this (and the coal space) for coating of appropriate protective paints.
There are more updates on recent work in the Newsletter.
Photo competition launch
The Awake the Giant Photography Competition returns for a third year. These have been proven to be very, very popular. This year we will be introducing new categories for all ages. The categories for this are:
– Under 16s
‘Bluebell at its Best’ (Any photo of the Bluebell)
‘Visitors and Galas’ (Any photo representing Bluebell visiting locos and Galas)
– 16s and Over
‘Bluebell in Bloom’ (Any photo of Bluebell’s home fleet)
‘Visitors and Galas’ (Any photo representing Bluebell visiting locos and Galas)
– Both Age Groups
‘Flying Scotsman Flies South’ (Flying Scotsman at the Bluebell Railway 2023)
Download the 2023 Photo Competition Entry details and Rules here (PDF).
Have you seen our Facebook Group and our Facebook Page?
Awake the Giant News
- Update – April 2023
- Update – December 2022
- Update – October 2022
- Update – March 2022
- Update – Winter 2020
- Update – Spring 2020
Can you help wake ‘The Giant’?
Maybe £15 per month (as little as £3.75 a week – less than the cost of a Pint!), or as little or as much as you wish to donate.
On-line donations: one off or monthly can be made here – please select “Awake The Giant” from the drop-down menu.
You can also print out and send in the PDF Donation, Gift Aid and Standing Order forms.
The Bluebell Railway Trust is a Registered Charity, No. 292497
Other ways to help:
- We would welcome anyone who could man a stall at Horsted Keynes, advertising and signing people up to regular donations,
- Join and participate on our Facebook Group and our Facebook Page,
- If you think you can help in any other way drop me a line.
Please contact Andy Taylor for further information.
The new donation leaflet (right) is proving to be very popular indeed, with a second print run of 1000 has been obtained. We seem to be attracting approximately 60 new donors per year through this route, with the leaflet targeting a new group of people who are not aware of the fundraising. You can download the leaflet (PDF) here.
Who is ‘The Giant’?
Steam locomotive 9F No.92240 is one of the largest and most powerful steam locomotives built in Britain. It was among the last completed at Crewe Works in 1958. It was withdrawn in September 1965 and sold to Barry Scrapyard in Wales. After 13 years at Barry, it was bought by a group of members (headed by the late George Nickson, Pete Reid and Peter Cox) from the Bluebell Railway’s locomotive department.
Jon Bowers’ photo shows it steaming up Freshfield Bank in fine style on Boxing Day 2001.
The restoration of 92240 at the Bluebell Railway took a further 13 years, re-entering traffic in 1990 as the first restored Barry 9F to steam. It ran for only a few years before several boiler stays were found to need replacement. At this point, the boiler was re-certified for a further ten years.
It was withdrawn from service in 2002, due to the poor condition of the tubes. After many years awaiting overhaul on public view in the locomotive shed at Sheffield Park, in September 2009 it moved to be on static display alongside Platform 1 at Horsted Keynes Station. In November 2022 it was moved back to Sheffield Park.
92240 stored at Horsted Keynes – Derek Hayward
Operational Locomotives – Locos under overhaul – Locos on static display – Locos formerly based on the Bluebell
Locomotive Roster – Loco Stock List – Loco Works News – Atlantic Project – Standard 2MT Project – Awake the Giant – Project 27
On this page: Donate – Latest News – Who is ‘The Giant’? – Leaflet See also More about 92240
Last updated by Richard Salmon, 18 May 2023, with thanks to Andrew Taylor and Thomas Newble
