May 2024
34070 Manston heads a freight train on the Mid Hants Railway on a chilly 24th February. Photo: Nytram Mattat
From the Chairman
Some months ago we noted that if we completed Sir Keith Park quickly, and borrowed 257 Squadron from the Spa Valley, we could have our four operational Bulleid Pacifics in steam at Swanage. Swanage Railway picked up on this and came up with the plan for Strictly Bulleid II, a re-run of their memorable 2017 Gala, with even more Bulleids in steam!
The railway are offering six in steam for the gala on June 7 - 9th June, Eddystone, Manston, 257 Squadron, City of Wells, 92 Squadron and Peninsular & Oriental S.N.Co. Tickets are now on sale.
However we are confident that a seventh loco, Sir Keith Park, will be taking part too. It's cost SLL a lot to ensure SKP will be ready as we've paid for extra hours from our staff and kept the Works open five days a week. We've contracted Swanage Railway staff to assist, and our volunteers have given their all. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Tyseley Works for ensuring that Sir Keith was reboilered, had the smokebox and superheater header replaced and the boiler fully retubed in record time to enable it to return to Herston just a month after the boiler had arrived in Birmingham.
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34072 257 Squadron
34072 257 Squadron has become a firm favourite at the Spa Valley and doubtless it will be missed for the latter half of this year, although the return of Sir Keith Park will compensate more than a little.
The plan is for it to leave Tunbridge Wells in the week commencing 26th May and transfer to Swanage courtesy S.A.Smith our preferred haulier. He has a tight schedule at that time moving Bulleids all over the Country! Following the Gala 257 Squadron will transferred to the Mid Norfolk Railway for a couple of weeks where it will join former SLL Standard tank 80078 and then return to the Spa Valley for several weeks including the mid-July Summer Gala alongside Sir Keith Park. After that 257 Squadron will move to the Mid Hants where it will stay until the New Year.
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At the end of July, 257 will move to the Mid-Hants Railway, and will stay until the New Year. Following this it will transfer to Swanage where a valve and piston exam will be undertaken in Herston Works before a planned return to the Spa Valley.
34053 Sir Keith Park
As mentioned we have spared no expense to get this locomotive ready for Strictly Bulleid II, and we must thank all the workforce and volunteers for making it happen, and once again proves that we have a team second to none.
At the time of writing, all the motion, pipework, packings, and cladding have been reinstated. The smokebox is now completed with steampipes fitted by the time you read this along with the brick arch in the firebox. The cab is now complete and fitted out, including our new brake ejector, although some of the gauges haven't been fitted as a precaution against damage. The tender went into the goods shed and painting commenced on 24th April. There were two or three jobs necessary including the renewal of the safety link pins which connect the loco to the tender, and temporary repairs to the rubbing block, to get it through Strictly Bulleid II, pending the order of a new one. Our painters have now painted the whole loco, with lining out next. We have contracted others to paint the tender.
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The official steam test for Sir Keith is scheduled for 23rd May, the boiler having been steam tested off the frames some months ago at the North Norfolk Railway. As Strictly Bulleid II is being backed by Trackside magazine, we will be featured quite heavily in upcoming issues.
34028 Eddystone
Once again there is nothing much to report as far as Eddystone is concerned, but we did spot this great photo of it at Horsted Keynes taken by Roger Cruse of the Bulleid Society who has helped our cause since Day 1. Some planned maintenance work will take place in the Autumn in Herston Works.
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34070 Manston
This locomotive must have been the most photographed loco in the south of England - its weathered appearance appearing to be favoured by the vast majority of those who have commented. Peter Spowage organised a group from the Guild of Railway Artists to capture its current condition outside the shed on the Mid-Hants last Thursday. Their task was to complete their painting on the day.
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Following its appearance at the Mid Hants gala (28th April) it's due to have an oil and paraffin wipe over to continue the BR look.
80104
Whilst work continues on the boiler and with completion of the contract now just weeks away, volunteers have been undertaking further work saving both time and revenue. The boiler side of 80104's tanks were de-rusted, cleaned and painted as unreachable once the boiler is reinstated. The stretcher under the cab floor needs a proper repair as only a temporary one was undertaken whilst in service, as it is very difficult to get at that area with the boiler on. We've therefore asked Tyseley to undertake this job as well as lifting the bunker. This will be taken separately to Herston where a new floor will be installed by our staff.
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It is probable that the boiler inspector will review the repairs week commencing 13th May and following confirmation that all is well, retubing will take place. Two members of staff will travel to Tyseley to fit the crinolines and cladding once they can be spared from Herston. This gives us approximately six weeks to finish cleaning and painting some large sheets at Sellindge, which the poor weather has precluded us from completing until now. All the smaller parts have been repaired or renewed and are ready to be transported to Tyseley.
When 80078 failed with a fractured steam pipe on the Spa Valley, we lent the Spa one of 80104's, which itself was fairly worn. They are quite a strange shape and certainly not something you can buy off the shelf. We were therefore pleased to learn that Stewart Robinson, the owner of '78, had found a company who've agreed to manufacture a new set. Owing to the 'bulk' order for 4 the price was reduced and Stewart kindly split the savings with us.
We expect that the locomotive will return to Herston shortly after Sir Keith Park has departed and that completion of the locomotive will take six to eight months, in time for the 2025 season.
34010 Sidmouth
Following a meeting at Tyseley our Midlands volunteers returned to start cleaning the boiler prior to inspection which will determine the work needed on the it. Meanwhile down at Sellindge we still await weather suitable for the welding of the frame extentions.
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34058 Sir Frederick Pile
Anyone who follows our weekly postings on on our Facebook page will know that we've had to work extremely hard dismantling this locomotive. We've had plenty of experience in the past pulling Barry wrecks apart, but they had lain rusting away for a mere 30 years or less, not 60.
As reported earlier this year the boiler was removed just prior to the bad weather and placed on sleepers opposite Sidmouth. The first job was to lift the regulator out of the boiler which is always an awkward job especially given the weight of the unit. It proved impossible to remove a couple of the bolts which had rusted solid and could only be felt rather than seen. Knowing that the front tubeplate was well past its sell-by date Allan Highman cut a hole to gain access and after effort the regulator was finally freed and taken through the dome.
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The boiler was cleaned out over two Tuesdays to make it as clean as possible for the boiler inspector to make his judgments on what needs to be done when he visits in mid-May. A huge amount of scale has accumulated from its two to three years use on BR since overhaul and then from the tubes being dragged out at Bitton on the Avon Valley, where it was stored for many of its 60 years out of traffic. Once we have the boiler report we will liaise with Tyseley Works to ascertain if they want to take on the job and obtain an initial quotation. We are hopeful that they will undertake both Sir Fred's and Sidmouth's boiler at the same time.
The dragbox was finally fully removed from Sir Fred's frames in March after a lot of work, principally by Allan and Harry Highman and Paul Cass. This then enabled us to remove the trailing truck which allowed the jacking up of the frames to see if the axleboxes were jammed in the horn guides. Even though soaked in WD40 and similar over several weeks as the frames were lifted the driving wheels came up with them. However, Richard Moffatt with the experience of releasing Sir Keith's axleboxes 20 years ago, applied the heating torch to the frames above the boxes, and with the aid of Hugh Topham on the sledge from above driving in fox wedges between the frames and the top of the boxes, all the wheels are now back on the rails.
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The next stage is jacking the frames higher to remove the bogie at which time we'll remove the steel girder which served as a temporary buffer beam. Before the frames can be lifted from the wheels we have to split the crossheads from the pistons. Having successfully removed the cotters we started the process of using the crosshead splitter kindly lent to us by the MNLPS - we have to congratulate them for the speedy return of Clan Line back to the main line just five weeks after having its hydraulic test.
Providing the operation goes smoothly on all three crossheads we should then be able to plan a date for lifting the frames and rolling out the wheelsets, which is almost impossible with the wheelsets in.
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It is planned to start sorting out all of Sir Fred's many components stored in two packed containers at Herston once the mezzanine floor is completed in the Works. This new area will allow for the hundreds of items to be identified and stored so that we can see exactly what we have. Work on the mezzanine which we are doing in-house had to be temporarily suspended as everyone has been put on to Sir Keith Park. There are still a few items not delivered to Dorset, principally the steel plate for a new tender.
Dean, one of our team at Sellindge has taken it upon himself to build various items from pen holders to robots from the tubes and superheater elements from Sir Fred which would normally end up in the scrap skip. They're proving very popular and he can't make them fast enough. We occasionally drag him out of his workshop and make him do some loco restoration.
35025 Brocklebank Line
The very poor weather since November has resulted in less work than was planned for Brocklebank's frames although we have managed to clear and paint a few more areas - it just takes an inordinate time especially where red topcoat has been applied as it all has to be removed. There are a lot more nooks and crannies on a Merchant than a Light Pacific, some of which are incredibly difficult to get to. Clearly Sir Frederick Pile and Sidmouth must take priority at the moment as at some point our staff and volunteers at Herston will be awaiting their arrival. However, rest assured if we continue to have so many volunteers and some dry weather, we'll be able to progress '25 accordingly.
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With the arrival of a new mess hut at Sellindge, it was very opportune that we had a request from a haulier based in Sussex as to whether they could borrow one of our boilers for a few months, for display purposes on one of their vehicles. Currently Brocklebank's boiler is parked right in front of the current mess hut so with it temporarily gone we'll be able to drag the old one out and with the aid of a Hiab swing the new one into position. Paul Gisby, our in-house chef, and Peter Spowage have already acquired a fully fitted kitchen and built it in and are now awaiting the arrival of various accoutrements that they've somehow acquired - if we tire of pulling locomotives apart we'll just open a restaurant down there.
As we painted '25's boiler back in 2020/1 it was looking a bit tired so that's currently having a repaint and just so it looks more presentable to the public, the front tubeplate has been de-rusted and painted red and the handrails painted black. As we'll have an advertisement on the boiler for SLL it won't have been a waste of time if we sell a couple of shares, as we're sure we will - to the haulier if no-one else!
DX trips
This year's DX days, 26 - 28th March went as planned and were well received by the 36 shareholders taking part. As usual we were at Swanage, and our loco was 34028 Eddystone. Each day we had six round trips to Norden, with a pair of shareholders supervised by Swanage Railway's regular crews, who gave us all excellent instruction. With 800+ shareholders and 36 places it's just as well that we don't have too many applicants, though we were obliged to disappoint around a dozen. We try to choose applicants as fairly as we can, the only firm rule being that new shareholders get priority. Huge thanks to the Swanage footplate crews, guards, signallers, opps team, and so on for making the event possible and rewarding.
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Strictly Bulleid II
As you'll have seen the gala should break all the records for Bulleids in steam since BR days. Our stand will be near the goods shed refreshment tent at Corfe Castle station, where you'll be able to talk to us and see some of our namplates and railwayana. Come and say hello.
92 Squadron and Sir Keith Park at the 2017 Strictly Bulleid Gala. The upcoming Strictly Bulleid II will be like this, but with even more Bulleids! Photo: Nathan Au
February 2024
On 14th December the overhauled boiler was lifted on to the frames of Sir Keith Park at Tyseley. Photo: Malcolm Garner
From the Chairman
We would like to thank all those who have supported us through 2023, without whose help we could not have possibly achieved so much. Over the years our shareholders have raised much of the money needed to restore eight locos, and when 80104 and Sir Keith Park are complete we will have overhauled five of them. If our support remains strong we will deliver on our remaining restorations and continue to do the 10-year overhauls as they become due.
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We pick up the news from mid-November when the cranes arrived to lift Sir Fred's boiler, which went like a treat. However the same can't be said for all aspects of our operation, but with nine locomotives in the fleet there's always going to be one or more with problems. We're also at the mercy of the elements, and weather has played havoc with our Winter plans at Sellindge. We'll have to catch up when the days get longer.
34058 Sir Frederick Pile
The 130 ton crane arrived at Sellindge on the morning of 7th November. By midday it had lifted the boiler, balanced perfectly, at the first attempt and swung it across to place on the frame of sleepers in front of one of the electric units on site.
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Since then all the driving springs have been released and await collection for repair. With the springs weighing in at about three or four hundredweight and conducting the removal exercise sitting under the loco is no mean task. We are hopeful that Owen's Springs will deem them repairable although the cost of overhaul will be significant. To enable the lifting of the frames we will now have to drop the axleboxes - the middle two appeared to be jammed in the horn guides when unloading of the loco took place, but with experience from removing Brocklebank Line's, it shouldn't be too much of a drama.
We have removed the dragbox from Brocklebank Line which was actually built (by its previous owner) to Light Pacific dimensions, and all looks good for it to replace '58's which is so much scrap. It's been thoroughly stripped and with a coat of Rustoleum looks as good as new.
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34072 257 Squadron
One of our problem locos was the Squadron, which was scheduled to work Polar Express trains at Spa Valley. On the second day of PE operation a universal joint connecting the injector control handles to the injectors somehow dropped off the loco, and despite a search of the track in the darkness and rain it couldn't be found. This has never happened to any of our locos before, and it couldn't have happened at a worse time. However, thanks to some smart work we managed to get the complete set of injector controls from Sir Keith Park in case anything else went amiss. These went from Herston to Tunbridge Wells in a few hours and it was back in service by the Saturday, missing only one day of service.
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Just a few days later when the locomotive was at full pressure a mudhole door joint failed. It's not a long job to replace a joint but it can't be done when the boiler is hot, meaning a three delay before the job could start. As another joint looked suspect the Spa replaced all four. Then after one day's service a bogie spring fractured, another very rare event for us. Once again the jungle telegraph sprung into action and the parts were picked up from Swanage and transported to the Spa in a few hours, and duly fitted by their volunteers. Thanks all round. We were able to salvage the last four days but this trio of issues cost us substantial income.
257 Squadron will remain at the Spa Valley Railway until the middle or late May when it is planned to move to Swanage to participate in the proposed gala the first weekend of June. This is all in the planning stage at Swanage so we are awaiting confirmation that it will happen. However, providing that Sir Keith Park is completed in time this would be the best opportunity for us to have all four of our working Bulleids together at the same time.
34053 Sir Keith Park
After many months of frustrating delays Sidmouth's old boiler finally had its initial steam test on the 8th December. It had originally been planned for the NNR to then reinstate the superheater header and elements but we were advised somewhat late in the day that the header may have needed some repairs.
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So we immediately transferred the boiler to Tyseley, as with Sir Keith's arrival we had the opportunity of using its header which we knew was fine. The boiler was fitted into the frames immediately on arrival and we're pleased to report that there were no problems with the rear 'feet', which can be a problem unless they are set at precisely the correct angle to sit on a different set of frames. However, a delay occurred as the new ashpan locating pins were the wrong size. A new set had to be ordered in Birmingham which couldn't be manufactured until the new year. We're hoping for rapid progress culminating in a full steam test.
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The smokebox will soon be reunited with its new boiler following a hydraulic test of '53's original superheater header. This can be undertaken without a boiler inspector being present. As soon as this is done the header will be reinstated and the elements connected, making way for a full steam test. This will ensure that any steam leaks are made apparent before its return to Herston. All three expansion links have now been ground, a job we knew had to be done some time ago, so the motion should now be complete.
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Meanwhile our plans to rename the locomotive 303 Squadron for a year advance. On a visit to RAF Northholt, from which 303 flew in the Battle of Britain, we were kindly shown around the museum area in the Officers Mess by the son of one of 303's pilots who gave an interesting talk on the Squadron's exploits. Owing to other commitments by a delegation flying over from Poland, we will be holding the re-commissioning ceremony at Eridge on Sunday 1st September, a week earlier than anticipated. The nameplates are ordered and Richard Green is working on the crests.
34028 Eddystone
As usual Eddystone has behaved itself, and from photos all over Facebook appears to have hauled the majority of Polar Express services at Swanage. There is nothing else to report - not very exciting news for updates but excellent for the health of Southern Locomotives finances and workshop resources!
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34070 Manston
Since our last update, Manston has moved to the Mid Hants Railway where it will stay for several months. That railway was short of locos and Swanage Railway will recoup our hire fees, particularly welcome at a time when they are appealing for financial support.
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This ever popular locomotive continues to impress and is a favourite for photographers in its weathered finish. Many have remarked on Manston's sharper beat than other three cylinder locos, and can be heard from published videos. Manston will be returned to Swanage by June but we hope there will be a few events on the Mid-Hants where Manston will be centre stage.
80104
Work continues on the boiler at Tyseley, parts at Swanage, and cladding at Sellindge. Recent photographs show good progress though inevitably extra work has been found as the overhaul continues. The long job of building up the tube holes on the rear copper tubeplate is completed. The front tubeplate is now ready to be fitted, with tubing expected to start in February or March. Our volunteer working parties have helped the job along. A section has been cut out of the cab floor the damaged stretcher directly beneath it, which was temporarily repaired at Swanage. This can now be properly examined and appropriate action taken. |
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34010 Sidmouth
We will be visiting Tyseley to discuss various matters including Sir Keith's boiler overhaul which we will refer to as Sidmouth's from now on. The speed of work on this will de dependent on fund raising, but we're hopeful that with so many supporters of this particular locomotive wishing to see it back in steam, work will commence sooner rather than later.
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Both the weather and our faulty compressor have meant a delay to the riveting work necessary on the frame extensions, along with the reinstatement of the new dragbox. With the compressor under repair now it will only be the weather which causes any further delays. There will be a small amount of touching up to do this Spring following its first coat of Rustoleum, but given the appalling conditions with tarpaulins literally disintegrating, the paintwork has stood up remarkably well, a testament to the care in the preparation of the surfaces. We don't intend to do a proper paint job on the frames until shortly before dispatch to Herston Works.
35025 Brocklebank Line
The weather has prevented any proper progress since the last update, with not a completely dry working day since then. However, one of the fabrication companies we've got to know are very keen on producing a new dragbox so we are awaiting a quote from them. We are also hoping to send the springs away for checking at the same time as Sir Fred's are dispatched. Given that the locomotive was being reassembled for operational use back in the early 2000s we assume that the springs were professionally overhauled then, so hopefully the 15 years of inactivity haven't caused too much damage. Visually they look absolutely fine but it will be good to get professional confirmation.
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The weather hasn't stopped Liam Treveil from the Spa with his grandfather Alan grinding 101 of the 190 rivets securing the front tubeplate as the first stage in removing it. It's a laborious job but will save a significant sum when it is eventually sent for overhaul. It would not be sensible to actually remove it completely prior to dispatch as it's an integral support for the barrel, rather let the boilersmiths take it out when we have the new one ready to go in.
75050 Norman
This locomotive has been conspicuous by its absence recently. The reason being that currently we have been unable to find anyone who can start the reassembly of the locomotive, and there's currently no room in Herston. Fortunately work has restarted on the boiler which we brought to Sellindge, but again the weather and compressor problems haven't helped matters. However, during November Lawrence Donaldson from the KESR restarted the overhaul and progress should be accelerated once the rain stops. All other components of the locomotive are kindly being stored on the East Lancs Railway.
Hawkinge
When we first visited the Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge the airfield was still unspoilt and operational. Times have changed and there is now a housing estate with a large Lidl store on the site - the irony of the latter establishment being built where Hurricanes and Spitfires were based did not escape anyone!
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The Battle of Britain Museum has continued to expand, and as Owners of no less than four 'Battle of Britains' we thought it appropriate that we should have a presence within the Museum, to both advertise Southern Locomotives and to show our support. Dave Brocklehurst MBE, the Chairman, is very enthusiastic about the idea and to kick start our closer relationship we privately purchased from Procast a replica Hawkinge nameplate and presented it to Dave, and some of his volunteers, in November at the Museum.
Social Media, the Good, the Bad and the others
This website clocks up about 60 visits per day, mainly from the UK, with a fair sprinkling from further away mainly in anglophone countries. The Latest News page (this one!) is by far the most visited and the other pages are there for those who are looking for more details of our loco restoration projects and our organisation. We send an expanded version of the Latest News to our 800+ shareholders which goes into more detail of the work going on, the operation of the company and financial issues.
Our Facebook page acts like a gigantic fishing net, with a huge reach. Surprisingly the post which has attracted most views recently was not one with glamorous photos of locos in action, it was a simple photo of Sir Keith Park in Herston work, partly assembled. The accompanying text reprised our advertisement for a Fitter/Machinist position for Herston works. That reached the screens of 299,377 folk around the world. Several people commented that it was a marvellous job and they'd throw in their current employment if they lived in Dorset, we had interest from a chap in Tennesee and another from 'The Antipodes'. Fortunately sifting through the responses there were a handful of genuine interests which we are pursuing.
We're still inviting interest from anyone with skill and experience as a Fitter/Machinist to join the team at Herston working on our locos. If you're interested please drop an email to Bob Bevis at bob.bevis@southern-locomotives.co.uk
Photos and Videos
We've made two initiatives to improve the scope of photos and videos of our locos. Firstly to launch a Flickr group to which photographers can add their work, and secondly enhancements to our YouTube channel.
Photos
Flickr is a well established system to store and display, and also sell copies of photos. Our Flickr group can be found here.
Anyone can see the photos which you can find here.
If/when you're a member you can search for the "Southern Locomotives Ltd" from the home page, and you can join that group. There's no cost to open a basic Flickr account, which is all you need to posting and viewing photos. We hope many of you will join up and share your photos. Please pick some of your best photos, or those of special interest, and strictly related to SLL's fleet of locos.
Videos
We've had a YouTube video channel for some years, but it's not been added to very often, and we suspect most readers of our website did not know it exists.
The newly enhanced video channel can be found here.
You may also be interested in a documentary about 303 Squadron's creation and their role in the Battle of Britain here.
And finally
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