News Update - October 2025
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From the Chairman
Eddystone has featured heavily on social media in recent weeks and rightly so! Our first outing on the Network didn't all go according to plan, but we now have a locomotive which will constantly be required. However, looking after Eddystone on the Main Line is not a simple task, in fact it's really difficult as the engineering support crew have "day jobs" to attend to.
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We've welcomed many new shareholders in recent months who have brought both finance and new skills to SLL. This was absolutely vital with the amount of work we need to undertake with four Bulleids in operation, and three in the early stages of restoration. We've certainly got our work cut out, but with the following and support we now have, we should succeed.
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34028 - EDDYSTONE
On 3rd September Eddystone was successfully transferred to Southall in company with Swanage's Class 33 D6515. The following evening it took 10 coaches with a West Coast Class 47 for a spirited run to Didcot and back with no problems whatsoever. We therefore accepted the opportunity to take the RTC excursion to Swanage on the 10th September.
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The amount of work which the Herston team have put into getting Eddystone on to the Main Line has needed a lot of time and cost a lot of money. In the end everything happened rather quickly in that with the loss of Tornado and problems with the Black 5s, the Railway Touring Company found themselves with no locomotives in the South. The testing of Eddystone had been delayed by the ban on steam at Swanage owing to the drought (a distant memory!) and inevitable fettling for a locomotive which had just had such a significant overhaul.
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Three of the original Southern Pacific Rescue Group, Richard Moffatt, Bryan Atkins and Hugh Topham were at Victoria Station for the 08:45 departure and they probably found it hard to believe that after 40 years, since Richard organised the purchase from Woodhams, it was this locomotive that the SR and SLL chose to go Main Line. The crew put the locomotive through its paces and there was fast running for many miles.
At Winchfield we picked up the late Mike Whittingstall's wife and daughter for the short run to Basingstoke. Mike was the chief engineer on Eddystone and had his workshop at Sellindge.
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We continued to Swanage where passengers disembarked for a couple of hours in the town - wet and windy unfortunately. What became apparent on the run from Southampton to Bournemouth is that our brilliantly painted support coach, soon to be in operation, is going to suffer significant paint damage from the appalling vegetation growth on embankments and cuttings, which clearly hasn't been cut back for ages. The noise was unbelievable in places and will not please the painting department at Herston!
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As most will know, on the return to London, a knock was heard on arrival at Basingstoke, with a suspected hot big end on the middle connecting rod. The locomotive was removed from the train and transferred to a non-running line. The red hot connecting rod was dropped, an extremely unpleasant and stifling job adjacent to the firebox, in the dark.
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The rod was manhandled into the support coach, the middle crosshead strapped up so that it wouldn't move and the loco was returned to Southall at 30mph. We will never know for sure why the lubrication to the big end failed - it may have been the 60mph reverse run from Wareham to Southampton affected something or it may have been a simple fault with the lubrication system. The rod was still too hot to touch on arrival at Southall five hours later so credit must go to the team including West Coast Rail guys who did a 24 hour day to ensure that the loco was safely returned to London.
Substantial work is involved in preparing Eddystone for trips, especially as the support crew have to travel long distances to get to Southall in the first place. It is essential that we carefully balance the desire to earn fees against the sheer physical work involved by those looking after the locomotive. In this instance work started at 04:00 in the morning, and with its subsequent problem, resulted in an arrival back at Southall at 03:00 the next morning.
Where we do need help is to organise a regular cleaning gang at Southall to keep Eddystone looking as good as it did on the run to Swanage. This ideally needs to be composed of volunteers who currently don't already help us, living fairly close to Southall, as Eddystone will spend the bulk of its time there as returning to Swanage will incur Network charges.
Here's an excellent video of Eddystone's trip to Swanage from The Modster.
There are a lot of hassles involved with running on the network with doubtless things going wrong now and then, but there's nothing like seeing your locomotive at a London terminus or racing through the countryside at speed, and we appreciate the goodwill of people to look after the locomotive, sometimes in very difficult conditions.
We have yet to agree Eddystone's next planned trip. Where possible we will select excursions which commence in London or close by. We believe that two trips a month are feasible and we will post proposed future trips on this website.
34070 - MANSTON
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34072 - 257 SQUADRON
In July 34072 has received the stay replacements required and then spent a long weekend at the Epping Ongar Railway prior to its transfer to the North York Moors where it will be staying for a few weeks, its fourth visit to the line and hopefully as successful as the others.
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Its return to Swanage will be in good time to handle Christmas traffic. We are arranging a tender swap to enable 34007 Wadebridge to take up Main Line duties - a minimum 5500 gallon tender being essential. However, it could be that whilst the agreement is confirmed in January next year, the actual swap may not take place for some time. Those who were responsible for the new build tender on the Mid Hants may request that the switch is delayed so that they can see it operate behind Wadebridge when the loco has been restored. This is no problem for us except that it will be a while longer before we operate a Bulleid with a high-sided tender, something which some of our shareholders are looking forward to.
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80104
With 80104's impending departure from Tyseley attention can be turned to the two boilers there awaiting overhaul. It is almost certain that the one taken off Sir Keith Park is the better having had a new rear tubeplate fitted at Herston whilst being restored in 2010, so this will be used on Sidmouth as originally envisaged. We will await the official inspections and quotes for both boilers which won't be happy reading!
The plan is to transfer Sidmouth to Herston once 80104 is returned to the Railway, but a lot of fund raising will be necessary for us to achieve a second loco built to operate on the Network.
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The protracted overhaul of 80104 continues. The good news is that it successfully passed its steam test early in September, and following the rectification of a few weeping rivets, the boiler will be returned to Herston on a low loader and taken into the Works, where it will remain on the lorry whilst the team replace the crinolines and cladding.
However the superheater header was found to be unrepairable by the specialist cast iron welding company we had sent it to, so it is necessary to have a new one manufactured. Our good friend Stewart Robinson, owner of 80078, has kindly produced drawings and a pattern will be following soon. The cost of this exercise including the machining of the new unit will be in the region of £15000 - £20000 so any help from supporters of our Standard Tank would be much appreciated.
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We would like to thank Malcolm Garner and his team who have saved us significant funds by undertaking a lot of work which otherwise we would have had to pay for. When the boiler has been clad in the Works, the locomotive itself will be brought down from Tyseley to Norden and will be reunited with its boiler. The poor surface of the car park outside Herston works means it is no longer possible to reboiler locos as in the past. When the boiler is back on the loco it will move into the works for rebuilding, for complex tasks such as re-fitting the lubrication pipes, all of which will take some months.
34010 SIDMOUTH
If we are to continue Main Line running without too much of a break when Eddystone is withdrawn for its 10 yearly overhaul, we will need to prepare Sidmouth for the network. It is much harder work for our Pacifics to race around the Network rather than pottering at 25mph on preserved railways so it could be that Eddystone has to be withdrawn earlier for overhaul. We therefore need to not only restore the locomotive but also to build a new tender.
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The proposal is that it will be the maximum 6000 gallons as the taking on of water on Main Line excursions can be problematic, so the fewer stops the better. Whilst we have frame steel which we inherited with Sir Frederick Pile, this would only allow a maximum 5500 gallon tank, not forgetting that '58 also needs a tender!
There is only so much space, and so much our staff and volunteers can accomplish at Herston, so these new build tenders will almost certainly have to be contracted out. Having brought Eddystone up to Main Line spec with some difficulty owing to the myriad amount of equipment that had to be fitted, we will use this experience to redesign certain aspects of Sidmouth, which will be easier to organise whilst the locomotive is being rebuilt.
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We have contracted the work of riveting the rear part of Sidmouth's frames, and work will take place in October. The new sections of the frame extensions will then be welded so that the drag box can finally be fitted in the frames. It will take a while as the drag box has been drilled as per the BR drawing, but the guys who built the locomotive drilled the frames to their own plans......nothing is simple restoring locomotives. Meanwhile we are transferring a set of coupling rods we had manufactured about 25 years ago to our new contractors in Brede, a village not far from Sellindge.
These will be machined along with return crank rods so our kit of parts will continue to grow. The next problem we need to resolve is the manufacture of connecting rods as the company we have used in the past is no more. Once we overcome the problem of the forging the rods our new contractor has the facilities to machine them.
Having had both Sidmouth and Sir Freddie crack tested around the axlebox housings, a common area for Bulleids to suffer from cracks, our contractors will be grinding out the suspect welds and rewelding. They have pointed out that some of these cracks may well have been there from the day they were welded in the first place.
34058 SIR FREDERICK PILE
Whilst Sir Freddie has taken a back seat this Summer, we have sufficient numbers to continue with the restoration. All of the horn cheeks were removed a couple of weeks ago with the aid of large hammers to undo bolts which hadn't been touched for at least 60 years. Whether they are reusable will be subject to inspection by those who know about these things.
Crack testing was carried out around the axlebox housings kindly paid for by takings from Andy and Gerri Ford's sales stand, and our contractors will be grinding out the suspect areas of welding and then rewelding, probably in a far more professional manner than some of the work done on both Light Pacifics, which even to the untrained eye looks pretty unprofessional. Cracks were also detected on one of the stretchers so they will also be attended to.
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Riveting of the frames will take place at the same time as Sidmouth's so that '58 can also have its new dragbox reinstated. We have started the significant job of stripping and repainting Sir Fred's driving wheels as we need them to be looking smart when they're sent for retyring.
Our new contractor is very much involved with the nuclear industry but have all the facilities we need to rebuild steam locomotives, the Owners having already accomplished much restoration work on all manner of items.
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Fred and Sid's unmachined parts will be brought from Herston as and when we can afford to have them attended to. Peter and Dean have covered thousands of miles both collecting and delivering locomotive parts as well as taking our stand to various shows, so a big thank you to them for their efforts which has raised a significant sum of money - more than we could ever have imagined when the idea of an SLL stand was first mooted by Peter.
35025 BROCKLEBANK LINE
Again, nothing to report except that when we find a company to forge connecting rods, should we consider ordering three for '25? We would need financial assistance from those supporters who want to see our Merchant Navy restored - a relatively straightforward job had we not got six other Pacifics, given the condition of the boiler. We will continue to progress the locomotive when the opportunity arises such as the construction of a new dragbox in association with those restoring Shaw Savill.
75050 NORMAN
Norman is now coming on in leaps and bounds thanks to our friends in Brede. All the incorrectly machined horn guides are now re-machined and reinstated in the frames. The axleboxes which had been left in a state of disarray are being machined, and it will be much sooner than originally envisaged that they will be ready for reinstatement in the frames, with the next major milestone of re-wheeling to follow. Before this can happen new slide bars have to be manufactured, also courtesy of our contractors and these will be reinstated. New piston heads will also be manufactured shortly but it is hoped that the piston rods will be reuseable.
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With 68078 (an ex-LNER saddle tank) due to leave the site for its new home in the next few months, we will be able to gain access to 'Manston's' tent again. This is really important now as the plan is to completely restore the locomotive at Sellindge rather than giving Graham yet another loco to worry about at Herston.
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Boiler work continues and Lawrence Donaldson has now reinstated the bulk of the crown stays. Needle gunning has been ongoing inside the boiler barrel thanks to Dean, and hopefully this is now almost completed, as it's extremely noisy and can prevent Bryan Atkins from having his afternoon nap.
34053 SIR KEITH PARK / 303 SQUADRON
Following a slightly prolonged stay at the Mid Norfolk Railway owing to transport difficulties, 34053 returned to the Spa Valley Railway in good time for some maintenance prior to its recommissioning ceremony on 13th September. This was very much a Park family affair with relatives coming from New Zealand for our event and another at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne the following day, to commemorate Sir Keith Park on the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
The Sellindge team had thoroughly cleaned and polished the loco the previous day, much to the delight of the crew who arrived at six in the morning assuming that they were going to have to do the job themselves.
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Sadly the ceremony was disrupted when the heavens opened but after half an hour the sun was out again so photographs could be taken, followed by the Spa laying on a cream tea for the guests on the return train hauled by 34053 to Tunbridge Wells West.
The whole event went very well despite the weather, so thanks to the Spa Valley for helping to arrange it and to Pauline, Peter's wife who served drinks to the guests on arrival at Tunbridge Wells West.
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As you've seen, there's a lot going on, and a lot to look forward to. Our projects take a lot of work and money.
If you'd like help us please see the Support Us page.
AND FINALLY...
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News Update - July 2025
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From the Chairman
We had some very sad news since our last update in that Bill Trite, the founder of the Port Line Locomotive Project in 1981, the precursor to Southern Locomotives, died suddenly on the 10th May. On 5th June, the morning of his funeral, Manston, 257 Squadron and Eddystone were gathered outside Swanage station and '28 and '70 blew their whistles to mark the beginning of the service, whilst the L&SWR T3 563 carried a commemorative wreath on the service train.
There is further unfortunate news in that our aspirations for Main Line running have been delayed through no fault of our own, or the locomotive, and this is now compounded by the nationwide steam ban owing to the dry conditions.
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However, on several other fronts progress is good, and we have some very positive news regarding co-operation with fellow Bulleid owners. It's absolutely essential that we work together if we're going to get locomotives restored and then to keep them running.
34028 - EDDYSTONE
In mid-June we advised as many people as possible that we would be withdrawing from the first of our proposed excursions with the Railway Touring Company on 23rd.July. We heard that West Coast Railways could not accept the locomotive. It transpired that the issue involved electronic equipment lent by the Swanage Railway, and did not directly involve SLL. Ironically with a total Main Line steam ban, we probably couldn't have taken the 23rd July trip anyway as the dry weather appears to be set for some time to come.
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The good news is that the locomotive is absolutely fine, and apart from a blown gasket on the air pump which was soon fixed and a few predictable steam leaks, everything is looking good. It would appear that the weather will dictate when Eddystone gets its first test run though.
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34070 - MANSTON
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Manston continues to give sterling service but the time is coming when we believe her dirty state may start to compromise the cladding. It could be that it will be time for some TLC which won't please a lot of photographers! It was in action during Swanage Railway's Road to Rail event. Daniel Gosling made a short video for YouTube with the loco running from Corfe Castle to Harmans Cross, note sharp and equal exhaust here.
34072 - 257 SQUADRON
257 Squadron has been withdrawn from traffic for a short while. There was a knocking sound from the middle piston, and it was withdrawn immediately in May, just prior to its planned trip to the GWSR gala. This problem has been rectified and the stay replacement is being undertaken very soon. Fortunately Pete Pickering is able to do this job on the Railway saving the cost of transport to Herston works.
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257 will be visiting the Epping Ongar Railway over the weekend of 19-21 September and it is then planned to transfer it to the North York Moors Railway for their Annual Gala. This will be the first visit since 1991 when it did three spells interspersed with visits to the East Lancashire Railway. Those involved with the Moors at the time will remember the concern as to whether 257 had the ability to tackle the bank with a full load from Grosmont to Goathland, so a banker was provided. This was left far behind in no time at all!
At this time 257 was operating with a high sided tender lent to us by the Bulleid Society who had Blackmore Vale in the workshops for overhaul. We hadn't started on our tender building programme back then, so the Society's offer was gratefully accepted. Some of our supporters have been very keen to see 257 once again with an unmodified tender, and their wish will come to true much sooner than expected.
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The tender in question is under construction right now on the Mid-Hants Railway and will be finished in the not too distant future. The plan is to swap this for the tender currently running with 257 Squadron which will then be paired with 34007 Wadebridge which is in the midst of a major overhaul. The reason behind this idea stems from the fact that the sponsor responsible for much of Wadebridge's overhaul wants to see it on the Network, but the high-sided tender being built has only a 4,500 gallon capacity, whereas 257's is 5,500 gallons. It's not vital to have a high capacity tender operating at Swanage or wherever, whereas it's an absolute essential for Main Line work.
There's more about SLL's tenders on this website here.
The early Light Pacifics had narrow 8'6" cabs built primarily for them to operate on the Hastings Line via Tunbridge Wells Central, and latterly wider 9'0" cabs for South Western use. Manston was the last with the narrow cab, 257 was the second to have the wider cab, though it ran with a narrow tender for many years before withdrawal so it wouldn't be historically wrong to operate with the new tender as is.
80104
The ongoing overhaul of 80104's boiler may at last be drawing to a conclusion with the soon expected return of the superheater header from the specialist company who have repaired it.
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Our boiler inspector is booked for the 14th July to witness the hydraulic test and once that is finalised, preparations will be made for '104's return to Herston Works where several months work will take place with a target of returning to the Railway for Spring 2026.
The boiler will be taken into the Works on a vehicle and the cladding and boiler bands fitted. On completion of this task it will be taken to Norden where it will be reinstated onto the frames as re-boilering can't be carried out at Herston any longer owing to the poor condition of the car park outside the Works.
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The whole locomotive will then be brought back into Herston Works to continue the rebuilding which we hope won't take too long, and thanks again to the donor who is continuing to lend us funds to ensure completion of the locomotive.
34053 303 SQUADRON
Under the guise of 34050 Royal Observer Corps, Sir Keith left Tunbridge Wells for a short stay on the Mid-Norfolk Railway. It must be getting very confused as to what it's called but it will revert to 303 Squadron before it returns to the Spa. Whatever its name we're sure the visit will be a great success. It will then revert to its original name Sir Keith Park on Saturday 13th September at a ceremony on the Spa Valley.
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34010 SIDMOUTH
A specialist company visited Sellindge to undertake crack testing on the frames paying particular attention to the 12 welds surrounding the axlebox housings as in the picture below. Nine of the twelve surrounds were found to have cracks and subject to funding this is one of the tasks that can be undertaken at Sellindge with the services of a coded welder so that at least one job is ticked off for Herston.
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In our last update we advised that Sidmouth would be restored to Main Line standard which has been our aim with all of our locomotive restorations, but following our experiences and expense with the Eddystone upgrade over, the consensus is that it may be unrealistic to have Sidmouth Main Line ready when Eddystone is withdrawn, bearing in mind we have Sir Freddie and Brocklebank Line to think about. With the knowledge of just how difficult it is to add Main Line equipment on to a restored locomotive, it will may be sensible to make a few modifications on the frames during the restoration so that we can leave our options open.
We can't predict what the Main Line will look like in seven years' time, and it could be that if Eddystone has built a good reputation and has been reliable, then we should throw everything at it to enable a swift overhaul. Until we've had a couple of years' experience of operating on the Network we won't be able to predict if the rewards are substantial enough to warrant the expenditure, and if SLL wishes to continue to have a locomotive on the Network given some of the complications that can arise.
The plan is therefore to give priority to Sidmouth, after 80104, especially as it's been queue jumped on at least two occasions by Sir Keith Park in 2008 and Eddystone in the more recent past. Apart from the weld repairs as mentioned above, the installation of the new drag box will proceed this year in a joint exercise with Sir Frederick Pile.
34058 SIR FREDERICK PILE
With Norman's rapid progress manpower has already returned to Sir Fred, not that things haven't been happening offsite. A new smokebox door has been ordered, and we have been offered a new set of tyres which are already in this country. It's probable that we will arrange their fitting sooner rather than later to ensure that in the highly likely event of their being any sort of problem, it's best to find out now rather than in five years time!
Our crack testing company will be visiting Sellindge soon to carry out the same procedure on '58 as with Sidmouth. There are two visible cracks in the welds on Sir Fred so we must expect a lot more! Again, it's a task that we can handle and will be another job that won't have to be undertaken later. All the lifting brackets for our three resident Bulleids have been manufactured and welded together and are ready to be fitted on the rear of the frames.
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We still have some basic stripping of rust in the really difficult to get at areas but this has restarted, along with the inside of the driving wheels, but these will need to be completed first as they will need to be sent away for the retyring to take place.
35025 BROCKLEBANK LINE
In another example of co-operation with fellow locomotive owners we have supplied Merchant Navy dragbox drawings to those restoring 35009 Shaw Savill, - it seemed logical build two at the same time and we're sure that '25 supporters will chip in to help with the cost. Currently we're steering clear of Brocklebank Line - it may be something to do with the bee's nest in the left-hand cylinder block.
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The haulier who is looking after the said boiler has asked if he can keep it another year, so unless we meet the lottery millionaire who has a penchant for Merchant Navies we think it safe to advise them that it won't be a problem. Meanwhile the boiler met up with a Concorde recently, probably the first time this has occurred! Photo: Liv Cottingham Photography.
75050 - NORMAN
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The lack of rain at Sellindge in recent weeks and the high number of volunteers has enabled us to really progress Norman's frames and wheels, the latter having taken an inordinate amount of time removing something like six or seven layers of pain. Having stood for years in the contractor's yard the paintwork had started to crack leaving no other option than to remove the lot. However the end is now in sight and with the external areas of the frames and underside of the running board having a first coat of Rustoleum applied, attention has turned to the inside of the frames. Once again we're having to go down to bare metal and starting over.
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We were just missing one major item for Norman, a brake ejector, but we now understand that we have one which was taken off Eddystone some time ago, so apart from new piston heads and slidebars there shouldn't be too much left to buy apart from a set of tubes and grate parts, etc.
Lawrence is progressing with the boiler and has started to prepare the crown sheet for the reintroduction of the crown stays - a job made more difficult as the removal of them some years back caused some damage. Dean has done some great work under dire conditions needle gunning the inside of the boiler where necessary, especially unpleasant in the weather we've been having recently. We have therefore not grizzled when he's eaten an inordinate amount of our biscuits.
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The axleboxes will soon be dispatched to be machined, Martin and Richard having spent many hours measuring and remeasuring so that there are no embarrassing moments when they're returned to site. The plan is to rewheel the locomotive at Sellindge and have the hydraulic test on the boiler prior to a steam test. By the time we are at this stage we'll have a plan for the completion of the locomotive which will initially be in Longmoor blue, with black wheels and red rods. With the amount of money expended on Norman we don't believe that there will be a shortage of takers for a virtually brand new Austerity, and we have already been approached with a first serious proposal for its future use.
BILL TRITE - 1947-2025
We were saddened to learn of the sudden loss of our founder, without whose foresight we would certainly not be writing this update, with every chance that various locomotives now under the care of SLL could instead be quietly rusting away in sidings. It was back in 1982 that Bill brought together half a dozen like-minded people, persuading them that Port Line was undoubtedly the best Merchant Navy still at Barry. In fact as we now know Brocklebank Line was far superior, but Port Line was Bill's favourite locomotive so after going through the ritual of overturning another group's reservations on the locomotive it was finally purchased in January 1982 with extraction from Barry a year later.In the early eighties there were dozens of locomotive restoration organisations, and it was obvious to Bill that the only way to stand any chance of restoring the locomotive was to bring together a group of people with different skills - engineering, administration, finance and legal. He also needed people who would commit to a sensible downpayment to purchase the locomotive and have funds to at least start the restoration process. £1500 which was a very reasonable sum 40 years ago was the figure chosen and seven individuals including Willie Bath and Andrew Moore assured that the project got off the ground.
Bill was determined to ensure that all the Southern locomotives at Barry were saved so he was very much involved in helping other groups organise purchases and was involved with 35006 P&O in the early days, and arranged the purchase of 257 Squadron in 1984 which didn't go down too well in the Accounts Department - the latter having to eat humble pie in years to come!
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With the enormous task of restoring a Merchant Navy in a field it soon became obvious to Bill that it would be preferable to have a couple of hundred people owning a working locomotive than seven owning a non-working one. It was after Willie spotted a small advert for people to apply for part ownership of one of the Halls that he suggested to Bill that perhaps the Project could offer the same to raise funds. Bill designed an excellent advertisement (copied by many over the years) and also came up with the idea of Owners being allowed to pay by standing order - something completely unheard of for any heritage project back then, and the rest is history.
The 1988 BBC TV series, The Train Now Departing, includes an episode called The Survivors which described the birth and growth of railway preservation. Bill Trite and Willie Bath destribe the work needed to return Port Line to sta#eam. Here is the YouTube link. Bill appears 7 minutes in.
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Bill's love of the Swanage Railway and determination to save it back in 1991, meant that more of his time was spent dealing with Railway matters rather than Southern Locomotives as it became known. At the same time as being heavily involved with Railway matters and for many years Chairman of the Company and Trust, Bill was heavily involved in local politics and served at various times as Leader of Purbeck District Council, was on the town council of Swanage and served as Mayor on more than one occasion, and was latterly a Dorset County Councillor, obviously championing the Railway at every opportunity. True to form Bill tried to buy back Port Line from Locomotive Services who unfortunately advised that it's part of their long-term plans, and enquiries were being made regarding 249 Squadron, so until the end his determination to save all the Barry inmates remained top of his agenda. A character who will be much missed.
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News Update - May 2025
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34072 257 Squadron on the Mid-Hants prior returning to Swanage. Photo: David Ryding
From the Chairman
This update is rather delayed mainly because we've all been exceptionally busy and also because we were hoping to announce the date of our first excursion, but we're not quite there yet.
The good news is that Eddystone, bar a little more rewiring, is finished! The extraordinary effort put in by staff and volunteers, which included fitting a complete set of superheater elements in a few hours, has ensured that there will be a successful conclusion to this project within days rather than weeks.
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Our staff and volunteers at Herston have been performing minor miracles in setting up Eddystone for the Main Line, whilst our Tyseley volunteers have done nearly all they can on 80104, and have moved on to work on Sidmouth's new boiler. Meanwhile at Sellindge, where half our fleet reside, work has mainly focused on Norman.
34010 Sidmouth
With our decision to restore Sidmouth to Main Line standards with a view to it replacing Eddystone when that loco's ticket expires, the Sellindge team are preparing the frames for an official inspection. This involves thickness testing of vulnerable areas, ultrasonic tests on all welded areas and basically confirms the integrity of the frames. All of this and any other action taken on the frames, such as the installation of the new dragbox will be carefully documented so that Herston has a comprehensive record of all work undertaken at Sellindge. With 80104 not expected back at Swanage until June, it will still be months before there's a space for Sidmouth in the Works so we have a fair amount of time still to do all we can at Sellindge.
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The Tyseley team are de-rusting and painting the boiler silver to smarten it up in preparation for Tyseley to start work on its overhaul. It may need a new front tubeplate, the rear one having been renewed at Herston back in 2010 whilst being restored, and doubtless there'll be a lot of other work to undertake. We'll know how much after the official inspection.
34028 Eddystone
The list of jobs completed recently shows the results of all that hard work. The injectors, clack and safety valves had been overhauled and refitted; all the airbrake equipment had been installed with pipework completed; the loco had had a full piston and valve exam; all gauges had been calibrated, the air pump bracket has been manufactured and fitted, motion and brake rigging overhauled as required and lubricators checked and repaired where necessary.
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In addition there has been a vast amount of electrical conduit for both lighting and the Main Line equipment. Further lighting sockets have been provided to illuminate areas right along the frames, German style. Parts of the grate have been renewed and all ashpan, coal spray and pep pipe valves overhauled.
The new superheater elements were delivered on Easter Monday morning and all 32 were fitted, bolted up and ready for action during the same afternoon, and the petticoat was also reinstated.
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Meanwhile the boiler barrel has been completely repainted and varnished, on the basis that it was quicker than patching and repairing the original paintwork. The complexity of the pipework and electrical conduits under the cab floor must be seen to be believed and at the time of writing the final wiring was being installed to complete the lighting conduits as well as the power supplies to the TPWS, OTMR, etc.
The air pump overhaul was kindly undertaken by Chris Ellick CME of Clan Line who delivered it to Herston. This is now fitted and ready for testing. We are extremely grateful to Chris for saving us a great deal of time and cash.
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Electrical connections throughout the loco are powered by batteries, which can be recharged via a 13-Amp lead! | Both sides of the cab have an electric bell, both linked to the TPWS. |
Some months ago Swanage Railway kindly gave us a long-term loan of the London Transport Mark 1 coach donated by the LT Museum. This is currently in Herston Works receiving a complete repaint and being fully fitted with some bunk beds, a new kitchen and proper toilet so that support crew will have some civilised accommodation. We have had to buy what you would expect to fully fit a kitchen, shower and toilet with its associated disposal tank etc., to comply with modern standards.
All of the above has cost a lot of money, and we'd appreciate any support you can offer us. Please see the Support Us page of this website. Any financial help that you can give would be much appreciated.
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34053 303 Squadron
34053, running as 303 Squadron, has been in traffic for much of this year and will be changing identity yet again but just for three days. For the Cuckoo Line it will be 34050 Royal Observer Corps. We had a request some time ago from the Royal Observer Corps National Heritage team to rename 303 and we and the Spa Valley Railway were more than happy to agree. Hopefully this one-off event will draw extra people to the Railway, essential for the huge amount of money they need to raise for the bridge replacement near Tunbridge Wells.
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Later over the weekend 27-29th June 303 Squadron will be visiting the Mid-Norfolk Railway at Dereham, where ex-SLL Standard Tank 80078 is based. Stewart Robinson, who purchased the loco from us, enabling the restoration of Eddystone, has kindly organised new steam pipes for 80104 which are of a most complicated design.
There are no other specific plans for 303 Squadron at present apart from its recommissioning as Sir Keith Park on 13th September, for which we will provide further details later.
34058 Sir Frederick Pile
For the first time in nearly 18 months, our team hasn't been working on Sir Fred and we've switched the bulk of our work across to our Austerity Norman. However, if we had more hands we could continue work on the Bulleids now so new volunteers who can use an angle grinder, and don't mind getting filthy, are always welcome There's plenty of work at all skill levels on all of the locomotives, especially the wheels, bogies and trailing trucks on site, which all have to be stripped and painted.
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As reported above Sir Fred's boiler is at Tyseley along with Sidmouth's so the first job will be to have them both fully inspected to determine how we're going to tackle them. While we have a kitty for '58 it's not enough to cover the boiler, let alone the rest of the locomotive, especially as we have to renew all the tyres. With the recent upheavals prompted by the actions of Mr Trump, and with only two companies in the world as far as we know who manufacture driving wheel tyres it may be sensible to bite the bullet and order some. We believe the cost to be in the region of £30,000.
A kit of parts for new lifting brackets for Sir Frederick Pile, Sidmouth and Brocklebank Line has been purchased, and George Moffatt will be welding them together prior to refitting to the appropriate frames. George will hopefully once again become a regular at Sellindge having joined the company who will be machining our axleboxes for Norman.
34070 Manston
There's nothing to report on Manston except that it's been running well and has been in traffic on many occasions at Swanage.
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34072 257 Squadron
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Although it's due for a fair amount of maintenance soon, 257 has also been running well and is due to be doing some travelling soon. The late May Bank holiday will see the Squadron on the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway, followed later in the year by visits to two more Railways. As neither of these have announced 257's visit we won't steal their thunder by disclosing the locations at this stage.
35025 Brocklebank Line
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This loco has also been put on the back burner for a little while for reasons already given but rest assured we haven't forgotten about it.
Norman
We are concentrating on this project at Sellindge, and for the next couple of months it will be prioritised by the team. The reason for this is that Ian Silvester, who was entirely responsible for bringing Sir Keith Park back to life, also sponsored Norman's restoration and its subsequent overhaul which should have been completed five years ago.
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Much finance was spent and although the overhaul started well it eventually became obvious that things were not as expected and progress had stalled. As reported previously we managed with the help of the East Lancs Railway and others to move Norman to the ELR, who kindly looked after it for us until January this year. Over the next few weeks we will have stripped the frames internally and externally and given them a coat of both Rustoleum and undercoat so that it's ready for reconstruction.
Meanwhile Lawrence Donaldson is working on the boiler, currently welding new palm stays to the base of the barrel. This area was needle gunned and other areas within the boiler will also receive the same treatment over the next couple of weeks. An inspection by our boiler inspector will follow to confirm the work needed over the next few months. We have already been approached by an interested party with a view to long term hire, and Norman will be an important asset to SLL earning once again.
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We intend to re-wheel Norman at Sellindge again, with the machining of the axleboxes contracted to a local company. Detailed
measurements are being taken this week so that work can start, or be continued, as our original contractor started the job.
Meanwhile we have purchased at cost enough scaffolding poles to build a shelter over Norman, and the scaffolding company
which is adjacent to us has kindly built it for us, as well as providing roofing materials. When it is no longer needed for Norman
the plan is to re-erect it over Sir Frederick Pile.
80104
The extensive work undertaken by Tyseley is finally drawing to a close with just a few weeks work left. The new stretcher has been installed under the cab, the bunker floor repaired, new steam pipes have been manufactured along with new piston rods. Tyseley are awaiting delivery of the superheater header from the cast iron specialists who have repaired it and once this is reinstated, the elements fitted, and new mud hole doors are delivered, the hydraulic test will be carried out which is planned for the second or third week of May. The plan is to bring '104's boiler into Herston Works on a trailer for the crinolines and cladding to be fitted.
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All of this was transferred from the formative 1:1 Museum at Margate, where we were kindly given space to spread it all out and paint it, something which would have been impossible to do at Sellindge. After loading into our Sellindge based van and the new one purchased for Herston, as a thank you to the Museum, the team gave newly arrived 46100 Royal Scot a quick clean. Doubtless the full team will be back to spruce up all the locos prior to a planned open day in the Summer.
Once the steam pipes have been fitted along with the cladding, the boiler will be reinstated onto the frames which will be transferred from Tyseley to Norden. It's no longer possible to reboiler locomotives at Herston owing to the poor surface of the car park which would sink with any appreciable weight on a small area.
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80104 would still be in store had it not been for an SR supporter, who prefers to remain anonymous, who has lent us twice as much money than he originally envisaged. Grateful thanks to him for ensuring that this locomotive will be pulling trains in Dorset again in the not-too-distant future.
On the road
As we advised in the last edition, Peter, Dean and Paul will be attending several events this year so that the word can be spread about what we do. The primary purpose is to attract new shareholders and we have already welcomed several new supporters into SLL this year. With Richard Green's help we now have quite a few items to sell including mugs featuring Eddystone, Brocklebank Line, 303 Squadron and Sidmouth, items featuring Eddystone for selling on our forthcoming Main Line trips and items Dean produces utilising scrap from Sir Fred. One of our shareholders spotted our new logo and kindly sponsored some very attractive badges which we're sure to sell. However, we're not able to mail anything at this stage so all these items will be available only from our stand, or if you can collect from Sellindge on a Tuesday!
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Our stand is expected to be at the following venues:
23 MAY-25 MAY - GLOUCESTER WARWICK GALA (WITH 257 SQUADRON)
21-22 JUN - DUXFORD AIR SHOW
27-29 JUN - MID NORFOLK RAILWAY GALA (WITH 303 SQUADRON)
12-13 JUL - SUSSEX STEAM SHOW
09-10 AUG - 1:1 MUSEUM MARGATE OPEN DAYS
16-17 AUG - MANSTON AIR SHOW
6-7 SEP - DUXFORD BofB SHOW
13 SEP - SPA VALLEY FOR REDEDICATION OF SKP
19 SEP - 21SEP - TBA
26 SEP-28SEP - TBA
25-26 OCT - SLOUGH MODEL RAILWAY SHOW
The above is subject to change as it's reliant on a small group of people.
And finally
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All of the above has only been made possible owing to the dedicated band of volunteers who in some cases have been helping for four decades, and the financial input from our shareholders, again many of whom have been supporting us since 1983.
News Update - February 2025
From the Chairman
We've hit the ground running as we enter 2025 which has meant a lot of hard work and much pressure on the Finance Department! As we prepare for a new era in Southern Locomotives with Eddystone well advanced for Main Line operations at Herston, we at Sellindge along with our contractor at Tyseley (where we now have components of three of our locomotives) continue to make progress on several members of the fleet.
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A new vacuum cylinder has also been fitted. Non-destructive tests were carried out on all specified items such as the axles, draw bar, and draw hook. The GSM-R radio system has been installed on the tender for communications between the crew and signalling staff. The final job will be to fit the cover over the air tanks, the paintwork having already been touched up and a coat of varnish applied.
By mid January most of the tender modifications were complete. Following the overhaul of the axleboxes new wheel sets were installed. Brake rodding was re-bushed where necessary and new brake blocks fitted. Low level water fillers have been installed, a prerequisite for main line running, and the air brake main reservoir tanks were installed which necessitated the relocation of the vacuum tanks.
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34028 is still in Herston works. Note the air brake pump to the right of the smokebox. Photo: Dave Ensor | A good job for a volunteer: clean this connecting rod until you can see your reflection. Photo: Stuart Magnus |
The maintenance programme on the locomotive has been completed which included a piston and valve exam, packings gapped, big end oiler rings replaced, the fireman's side coupling rod bearing replaced, clacks overhauled, and injectors descaled and overhauled. The lubricators have been tested and repaired where necessary, and the blow down valve overhauled along with the snifter valves. The bogie oiler pads have been replaced as have the trailing truck pads.
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34028's tender now has the air brake cylinder and pipework. Photo: Dave Ensor | The GSM module has been installed in the tender. Photo: Geoff Reber |
A temporary air pump has been fitted, along with the start of the main reservoir pipework along with the train pipe. The battery box has been fitted and a second battery box for lighting is being manufactured. The TPWS (train protection warning system) is in the process of being installed in the cab with its associated conduit, with the cab floor being modified to allow access below it. Work on the air pump steam supply pipework has been started. Many items such as motion, couplings, safety pins and boiler parts have been subjected to NDT and fortunately no problems have been found.
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Once again the locomotive will have its paintwork touched up and will receive a full varnish. It will temporarily have red nameplates for its entry on to the Main Line. Whilst most of us prefer black our Marketing Department made the valid point that to non-enthusiast folk, who will be the majority on our excursions, having their photograph taken next to a red nameplate would probably be more attractive than black.
The same department are also having a few knick-knacks manufactured such as key rings, fridge magnets and the like to sell on the trains, and they look better in red. However, the plates will certainly go back to black and then we can sell the same gifts to those who have already bought them in red!
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From the above it's apparent that our Herston team and volunteers, without whom none of this would be possible, have been quite busy recently and it's not going to get quieter any time soon.
We are hopeful that Eddystone will be ready for its loaded test run in April/May. We are not committing to anything beyond that except to promise the Swanage Railway a percentage of our earnings from each trip as a thank you for all their co-operation on this project. Hopefully it will be of great benefit to the Railway to have one of their engines travelling around the Country, and it is the only one owned by 800+ shareholders.
34053 - 303 SQUADRON
303 Squadron is back in traffic having received some firebox repairs and a new centre ashpan. It would appear that when the new grate was installed it was put in a little too exactly with not enough leeway for expansion, with the result that the carriers which support the finger bars became distorted. These were sent to Herston for re-machining and returned in very short time and refitted.
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34070 - MANSTON
Manston is still running in weathered condition though it did have a bit of a clean using traditional methods. Apart from usual maintenance it continues to give sterling service, and was used for many Polar Express duties at Swanage.
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34072 - 257 SQUADRON
257 has been performing well on the Mid Hants and was well used in December which brought in some welcome cash. It will return to Swanage towards the end of March, coinciding with the return to service of Canadian Pacific.
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80104
The replacement of the frame stretcher underneath the cab has commenced whilst the final jobs on the boiler overhaul are being undertaken. Work on the foundation ring and firebox sides is now complete with the boiler being retubed next month, once the superheater header is returned from a specialist welding company. Work is underway on the two new piston rods whilst work on the bunker base is proceeding. Final work on building up and re-hardening the slots in the radius rods is being completed.
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Our Tyseley volunteers were on site in January, and will be in February, and maybe beyond. Their work saves significant cost on this project, which has cost us way above initial estimates, although as ever it's impossible to know what work is needed until a loco is in pieces.
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We expect that 80104 will return to Herston Works in two or three months time and our team will then start the task of putting the locomotive back together again.
SELLINDGE: 34010/34058/35025/NORMAN/ANTWERP
We hope that work will commence on Sidmouth's boiler in the not too distant future where it has recently been joined by Sir Frederick Pile's boiler. The latter locomotive is now nearly entirely dismantled. Whilst some have continued to strip rust and paint from both inside and outside of the frames and the many complicated brackets, nooks and crannies and apply a coat of Rustoleum, three or four have concentrated on the removal of the remaining slide bars, valve and cylinder covers.
Despite the poor weather the team have persisted and at the time of writing only the inside cylinder cover is left to lift off having been released by our two oldest volunteers, now equipped with a new nut removing gun, a great achievement bearing in mind all these items have been rusted in place for 60 years open to all weathers. On at least one occasion recently it was not wise to touch the loco without gloves for fear of being frozen to it permanently!
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With around 15 regular volunteers some of our time is spent working on our infrastructure. Two professional electricians associated with the Kent & East Sussex have spent time over the last few months rewiring our site and giving us an independent EDF connection with our own meter. Our new mess hut is operational with a fully equipped kitchen.
A drainage system has been dug which has helped keep the immediate area around the containers and mess hut reasonably dry, except when it perpetually rains. We then stand about as much chance as King Canute stopping the tidal wave coming off the top field on its way to Gibbons Brook. However at least the mess hut and our containers are no longer permanently sitting in water during the winter.
Our thanks go to Matt Hainsworth and colleagues at the East Lancs Railway for looking after Norman for a long time and helping load it, along with the vast number of parts.Whilst Mike, Dean and Richard Moffatt were at the ELR ensuring that all the parts were loaded, final arrangements were made at Sellindge to ensure the container designated for Norman was ready to accept all its parts.
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On 16th January our 160 ton crane due to arrive at 08:00 had been delayed for a couple of hours on the M25, but in a very slick operation it was set up in short time and the frames of Norman lifted over to the sleeper stacks expertly organised as usual by Hugh Topham. With that job out of the way and all the crates of parts transferred by our trusty Kalmar from the low loader, the crane driver was confident that he could lift 34058's boiler from the same position, so within 45 minutes that too was on the low loader ready for transport to Tyseley.
The final job of the day was to lift an air pump from one of the Finnish locos on site - this will be overhauled and made ready for Sidmouth or as a replacement for Eddystone's should it go wrong. The owner of the locomotive is aware and has accepted our offer which is obviously much cheaper than buying and transporting one from Finland. We will be prioritising work on Norman over the coming months with emphasis on getting it re-wheeled as soon as possible. This will enable us to move it into the large blue tent (which came with Manston many years ago) when the nearly complete, J94 68078 departs in a few months time.
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Our 10th locomotive, Antwerp is not exactly ours but has been passed to us for safekeeping by the National Coal Board Museum and when restored we will be able to keep all the earnings it provides. It had a very similar history to Norman, being sent to Belgium after D-Day hence its name. It has never been restored and will need the kind of attention that Norman has had.
So far for 2025 SLL hope to be, subject to the team not being required elsewhere, at the model railway exhibition at Alexandra Palace in March, the Mid Hants gala in April, the Transport Show at Detling also in April, the Roads to Rails gala at Swanage in June, and the National Festival of Railway Modelling at the NEC Birmingham in November, along with two of the Duxford Air Shows in June and September.
Primarily we are there to talk to people and advise on the virtues of part owning Bulleid Pacifics but we are starting to have a few items to sell as well. With help from Richard Green we currently have Eddystone, Brocklebank Line, 303 and Sidmouth mugs with more to follow no doubt, along with the Eddystone trinkets which are underway.
And finally
We have only been able to achieve all we have in 2024 thanks to the generosity of our shareholders. If you would like to join us please go to the Shareholders tab from which you can download a share application form.
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