Latest News

April 2013

Sir Keith Park recommissioning event - Saturday, 31st August

Arrangements for the event at Kidderminster are coming together; the Royal Air Force has confirmed its participation, the New Zealand High Commissioner plans to join us. We're in contact with some very interesting people and groups, so we're expecting a memorable day.


19th September 1947, Sir Keith Park named Southern Railway loco number 21C153 after himself. 66 years later we will recall that occasion, and mark the fine restoration of the loco bearing his name.		34053 Sir Keith Park will haul the SVR Dining Car train to Bridgnorth and back, while we can enjoy a good lunch, meet friends old and new, and talk about old times.

SLL shareholders and invited guests have been sent priority invitations, and can download the Invitation and Booking Form.

Update 29th April: Most dining places have now been assigned, and we may need to place new applicants on a waiting list, so please get in touch if you would like a dining place. There are still plenty of non-dining places available for shareholders, so please send those booking forms in!

257 Squadron Sponsorship

We've had a good response to the Sponsorship Appeal for 257 Squadron's overhaul, though there is still a long way to go. If you would like to support the appeal you can download the Sponsorship Form or find out more about the Overhaul.

257 Squadron Overhaul

Rebuilding an express steam loco involves some heavy engineering - boiler repairs being an obvious example. Large components need forging and pressing with skills and equipment which are much rarer than in previous generations. There are only a handful of workshops capable of fitting a steel tyre on to the large driving wheels of a loco like 257 Squadron. Fortunately one of these is not too far away, at the South Devon Railway's workshop in Buckfastleigh. In 2012 the SDR bought much of the equipment used by Pridham's of Tavistock when its owners retired, and their large presses and machine tools are now in regular use, making boiler components for many steam locos, and fitting tyres to large driving wheels. They also have a steady trade in new tyres for Class 08 Diesel shunters and heritage diesels.

SLL has an available set of Bulleid driving wheels with decent tyres; those which were originally used on 34053. There was a general switch-round caused by the slipped tyres on Eddystone a few years ago. However 53's crank axle has the eccentric used by a rebuilt Bulleid to drive its inside cylinder valve gear whereas 257 Squadron needs a chain sprocket suitable for Bulleid enclosed motion. The net result is that 257 Squadron's centre wheelset requires new tyres.


257's crank axle held on the hoist while the new tyre is being heated to expand its inside diameter to fit over the wheel. The metal blocks on the wheel are to balance it straight.		The wheelset is lowered into place and cools on to the wheel. It will need to be turned to the required profile and diameter to match the other driving wheels.

Scoop Thompson of SLL News was on hand to see the job done on 27th March. The new tyre is set in a large hearth at floor level, and surrounded by 24 sectional propane heaters. These are lit and left for around 40 minutes to heat the tyre to 275 - 300 DegC. The wheelset has previous been attached to the gantry crane by chains, and carefully balanced so that the rim of the wheel will slide freely into the new tyre. When hot a tyre of this size will have expanded by up to 3/8 inch, so provided the wheel and tyre are well aligned the process takes a matter of seconds. Once in place, the assembly is left to cool for a few hours while the rim shrinks on to the wheel. Then the wheelset is turned over and the other tyre is fitted.

The whole process is very impressive, though the SDR Engineering team do this work most weeks, and make it all look straight forward. Many thanks to Rob Le Chevalier and his team for letting me watch them in action. The full set of photos for this process can be seen starting here.

Riveting stuff

Meanwhile, back at Herston, work on 257 Squadron has also been progressing. One major task is the building of a complete new tender. The frames are assembled using the traditional process of hot riveting. We've all seen the film of shipbuilders on the Clyde throwing and catching red-hot rivets with tongs; fortunately the "throwing and catching" bit wasn't needed, but the idea is the same, and impressive to watch from a safe distance. Two steel components are drilled to size, a rivet is heated in a hearth, swiftly inserted in the hole, and hammered round at both ends. As the rivet cools it contracts, holding the steel plates together for life.


Willie Bath heats the rivets with a propane torch in a small brick hearth. Bob Bevis mans the tongs, carrying each red-hot rivet to the adjacent tender frames.		Bob positions the rivet in the hole, then Liam and Jimmy use pneumatic hammers to round both ends; they make it look quite easy, but then that's their skill.

Adam Dalgleish's team are experienced boiler makers, so they are familiar with the process, and in a couple of hours had done around 140 rivets. More riveting photos can be seen starting here.

Manston

The Swanage Railway is repainting 34070 Manston prior to the coming season. Unlined and without identification it looks rather mysterious, and the colour looks rather malachite, but rest assured it will be back in BR Green (aka Brunswick) soon.

This is 34070 Manston, though the loco is unlined and without name or number. Seen in the goods shed siding at Swanage station, 3rd March. (c) Ian Sell

Sir Keith Park

After a winter break Sir Keith Park has re-entered service at SVR. At the end of February a hairline crack was noticed in the LH rear cylinder cover, requiring the loco to be stopped. We have spare front covers, but not a rear. One was borrowed from another friendly Bulleid owner. It needed to be cleaned up and had a worn thread on the pressure relief valve orifice. The orifice was milled oversize and re-threaded, and a bronze sleeve was made, threaded to fit the oversize hole on the cover and the pressure relief valve internally.


The bronze sleeve made at Herston to make the spare cylinder cover servicable.		The replacement cylinder cover fitted to Sir Keith Park.

This was done on 7-8th March which coincided with our volunteer session, so Malcolm Garner, who lives in Bewdley, was on hand to deliver it to Bridgnorth on the 9th. It was fitted and tested in the next few days, in time for a series of Driving & Firing trips chartered by SLL shareholders and supporters for 19 - 21st March, closely followed by service during the SVR Spring Gala, though this was notable for the particularly wintery weather. Great teamwork all round!


The Driving & Firing charter ran as "Sidmouth Belle" for two days. EX10 is a hotbed of SLL supporters. (c) J Oates		Sir Keith Park enters Kidderminster during the SVR "Spring" Gala. Just the shot for 2013 Christmas Cards! (c) J Tidmarsh

The damaged cover will return to Herston shortly for repair, and we are also ordering two new castings from the pattern so we'll be well prepared if this happens to any of our Bulleids in the future.

2013 AGM and Shareholders' Driving & Firing

We have set the date of this year's AGM as Saturday 12th October, to be held at Harmans Cross Village Hall. It will be a morning meeting, probably starting at 11.00 a.m. Formal Notice will be sent to shareholders in due course.

We are also arranging two days of Driving & Firing for Shareholders on Thursday and Friday 10 - 11th October. The loco used will probably be 34028 Eddystone, which is due to come out of service for overhaul at the end of the 2013 season. Shareholders will be invited to apply for places on these trips nearer the date. With coal at £200 per ton the cost of these trips is significant, and we will be asking participants to make a donation or sponsor a tube for 257 Squadron if they are selected for a trip.

And finally....

Once again Mike Frackiewicz has turned up an interesting photo of an SLL loco. This time it's rather a good colour shot of a very dirty 34072 257 Squadron entering Sherborne with an up train in 1962. Mike bought the slide second hand some time ago with no other details attached, and as it was taken over 50 years ago that's all we may ever know, unless anyone can tell us more.

257 Squadron entering Sherborne. 1962 Photo: Mike Frackiewicz collection.

February 2013

Sir Keith Park ceremony, 31st August 2013

Thanks to everyone who responded to last month's "save the date" notice concerning the renaming event for Sir Keith Park to be held on 31st August.

Plans are moving ahead, both for the renaming ceremony at Kidderminster station and for the special dining train which our loco will haul over the Severn Valley Railway. We hope to nail down all the details and send out registration forms in the next couple of months. Please make sure the date - Saturday 31st August - is saved in your diaries.

Sir Keith Park has been in daily service over the recent half-term period. Here it's seen crossing Oldbury Viaduct, just south of Bridgnorth on Sunday 17th February. This photo was taken by Lewis Maddox, who managed to catch the moment perfectly including the shadows in the valley and glint of sun on the loco. (c) L Maddox

Lewis Maddox is one of a number of photographers who occasionally send us photos of Sir Keith Park in action, to the point where our "SKP at SVR" gallery has over 140 images. For some reason we are rarely offered photos of Eddystone, Manston or 80104 in action on the Swanage Railway....perhaps we never invited them? To remedy this we have set up a new gallery, SLL at Swanage 2013, and warmly invite contributors to send in one or two of the best photos they take there in the coming year. Not to be forgotten, we've also created a gallery for Norman at Embsay.

34072 257 Squadron Overhaul update

The loco's frames are still off-site being cleaned and painted, but 34072's overhaul is proceeding apace. The frames for the new tender have arrived and are being drilled prior to hot-rivetting, while the front and rear bogies are well advanced. The crank axle is due to be re-tyred in early March (at Buckfastleigh), so when wheels, bogies and frames are back in one place it will start to look like a loco.


Willie Bath using the large Broadbent lathe to machine the drawbar for the new tender to run with 34072. The blank was flame cut from sheet steel; in the "old days" it would have been forged "roundish" to reduce machining.		It would be more news-worthy to show a photo of Ron Bennett without a paint brush in hand, but here he is as usual applying the black top coat to the safety links of the new tender.

Most of the cladding for 34072 will be need to be re-made from scratch, but its framing is restorable, and Dave Ensor and the "Superior Cladding Department" are engaged on this. More photos can been seen here.

Colour-Rail Image Library

Over the last 30 years Colour-Rail has grown into a leading image library with many thousands of photographs of rail and road travel from as far back as 1900. The photos were gathered from many excellent photographers whose collections are a vital archive of the steam age. Not surprisingly all of SLL's locos (except Norman) are represented and Paul Chancellor, who runs the company, has very kindly supplied us with some interesting examples.

Most Colour-Rail images have a full caption and provenance, but there are some where the loco can be clearly identified but other details are tantalisingly absent. The four shown below fit into the latter category.


34028 in original form, but with BR number, so the date must be between 1948 and 1958. Eddystone spent these 10 years on the SW Division, but where is this? The platform on both sides of the train must be a clue. Photographer: Not known. (c) Colour-Rail		34028 Eddystone again, but this time at Midford on the S&D, and it's July 1961. But why is it running Light Engine, apparently heading south? Photographer: M Thompson (c) Colour-Rail


A fine shot of 34053 Sir Keith Park taken in October 1960. Is this Southampton Central, looking west? Can anyone confirm the location, and "for an extra point", who is the driver oiling round while the loco is at the station, probably taking water? Photographer: not known. (c) Colour-Rail.		34070 Manston, still with a high-sided tender, but date and place not recorded. Is the headcode Waterloo to Bournemouth, so could this be approaching Southampton Central, just past Northam Jct? Photographer: no known. (c) Colour-Rail

You'll probably need the full-screen versions of these and other Colour-Rail photos of our fleet to see if you can add more details, which you can find here. If you'd like to add any comments please drop an email to the webmaster.

To find out more about Colour-Rail and search their vast collection, click here.

Norman

Norman remains at the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway and recently saw service in the snow hauling two of the line's train of vintage coaches.

The railway runs from Embsay (near Skipton) to the attractive village of Bolton Abbey. Norman and other locos on the line may be small but they haul six coach trains up gradients of 1 in 50, so there is plenty to see and hear. The stock includes several vintage carriages which are used for occasional "Stately Trains" services. The leading vehicle in this photo is a Director's saloon built for the L&Y in 1906. 27th January 2013. (c) Tim Warner

Prior to this Norman received attention to replace borrowed parts (that were used to get it running) with its own refurbished or new components. It also saw the blastpipe realigned and the reverser mechanism bushed and re-pinned. More mechanical work is planned for later in the season.

Website, Photo Galleries, social media, and that whole parallel Universe

In the last year the SLL website has notched up over 35,000 hits, 20% more than in the previous year. Many of the hits came in the spring and early summer, when Sir Keith Park was being commissioned at the SVR.

It's more difficult to record how many hits our Picasa galleries get as these are recorded against individual photos, and the webmaster has better things to do than to add up several thousand numbers.... One of the most popular photos is this - with over 1500 hits - which seems to prove that either Bob Bevis and Malcolm Garner have exceptional animal magnetism or that people have got too much time on their hands!

We've recently added four new galleries, all mentioned above; 2013 Restoration, our new Colour-Rail collection, Norman at Embsay and SLL at Swanage 2013. Incidentally, the main menu on the website has been changed to include a direct link to the SLL Galleries top level in place of the previous link to specific restoration galleries. This change was made after we discovered that even some insiders didn't know that the other galleries existed.

Our Facebook page is now "Liked" by over 300 other FB pages, most of whom are human. Love it or Hate it, Facebook is a good way to publish a photo or a short message, where those who like it can show their appreciation or add a comment.

Our Twitter account also has lots of Followers and is often first with the news as we "re-tweet" updates from other users such as Swanage Railway and SVR Engineering.

January 2013

Looking forward, and briefly back

2012 was an eventful year, and generally quite a good one. We started the year with three Battle of Britain's in the workshop, surely the first time that has happened anywhere since Eastleigh in the mid-1960's. Manston returned to service on the Swanage Railway, Sir Keith Park was completed and is in service on the Severn Valley Railway, and 257 Squadron's overhaul has started after a wait of 10 years. 80104 and Eddystone remain at work in Swanage, and Norman is in regular use at Embsay. We bade farewell to 80078, and wish its new owner success in restoring it to service.


In December 2011 Sir Keith Park, Manston and 257 Squadron were all squeezed into Herston Works.		By December 2012 the only loco in the works was M7 No.53. 257 Squadron's frames will be back soon.

257 Squadron left Herston for its boiler lift in November. It will be back soon, and we're sure to be busy in 2013. Thank you to everyone who supported us in 2012, and we look forward to your continued support in the future.

34072 257 Squadron

34072 left Herston works by low-loader on 28th November. The first destination was South Coast Steam at Portland where the boiler was lifted. SCS will strip down and clean the frames. The front and rear bogies have already returned to Herston and are being overhauled, while the frames will return in a few weeks, depending on what other work is required. At that point the long task of re-assembling the loco will start.

Final decisions about the boiler repairs will be made after further inspections. It's expected to go to a specialist workshop for significant repairs, and won't be back for the best part of a year.

Meanwhile there is plenty going on at Herston. The frames for the new tender will be delivered soon, and their assembly can start. Although 257 Squadron is complete (unlike Sir Keith Park which was twice sold as a source of spare parts) many components are worn or will need re-manufacturing.


34072 257 Squadron ready to be towed back on to a low loader. 27 Nov 12		257 Squadron's front bogie has already returned to Herston and is being overhauled. 14 Dec 12

Thanks to those who have already sponsored components for 257 Squadron's restoration. A generous sponsor has already given us £250 for the new Brick Arch, so we have added some more items in that price bracket:

A new tender handbrake control @ £250
A new set of under keep pads @ £350
A new tender brake shaft @ £350
A kit of parts for a new ashpan @ £400

If you'd like to sponsor any of these items please write in the description and amount on the Sponsor Form.

There are lots of items available to suit every price bracket, so please help us return this great loco to a third life in steam. Details of our appeal can be found here and the sponsorship form can be downloaded here. Please help us get this classic loco back into service.

Save the date

Last May Sir Keith Park left Herston and moved to the Severn Valley Railway at quite short notice, and of course we didn't know how long its commissioning would take. In the event things went pretty well, but we were not able to plan an event to celebrate its re-entry to service after a gap of 47 years. The SVR is a busy place with events planned for most weekends of the summer, however we've been able to arrange a special train for Saturday 31st August 2013.

The ceremony planned for 31st August 2013 is expected to take place at Kidderminster station, probably around mid-day, and the train will include a dining car for those who want to celebrate in style. More details to follow in the coming months; meanwhile please save the date in your diaries.

Meanwhile 34053 Sir Keith Park was stopped just before Christmas following an operating incident which might have caused boiler damage. It's subsequently been examined and has provisionally been given the all clear. John Tidmarsh was at Bridgnorth the night before the exam, and his photos somehow captures the tension. (c) J Tidmarsh

And finally

Regular volunteer Mike Frackiewicz was sorting through his photo collection when he came across this view of 34072 257 Squadron on an up train at Raynes Park on 5th September 1964. It's the only colour photo we have of '72 in BR service.

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