Other British New Builds!

EDIT! Updated 26th APRIL, with new information! See bottom of this article for links to all the pertinent websites of each project.

No matter how much lovers of the steam age wish otherwise, there are a multitude of locomotive classes that have disappeared from the rails seemingly forever. To name a few, from the Southern we lost Maunsell’s W and Z classes, Urie’s H15 and Drummond’s D15, just to pick random types. Nigel Gresley and the other LNER designers have fared the worst in terms of preservation, since many classes have only one representing them despite their considerable fame and excellent service; examples being Gresley’s A3, N2, K4 and V2. Just 11 Gresley engines have survived, sad compared with the many Stainer/Churchward/Collett/Bullied engines which have lived on. Arthur Peppercorn has just two remaining engines: the A2 Blue Peter, and the K1 no.2005. Edward Thompson has only a single design remaining, the B1, of which two have survived. The low number of LNER survivors has been blamed on the fact that only one engine (one of the B1s) was sent to Dai Woodham’s Barry Scrap yard.

However, the audacity and daring of the preservation movement knows no bounds, and thus the opportunity to see at least some of the lost engines reborn has come. After 18 years and 3 million pounds of finance, the first ever new build for mainline steam, a Peppercorn A1, Tornado, is finally finished, and has been broken in on both the main line and in the Great Central Railway- nearly 7000 visitors flocked to see Tornado along with Oliver Cromwell and other famous engines at a GCR gala in late 2008.

UPDATE!!! TORNADO IS COMPLETED. The engine was officially named by HRH Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall on 19th of February in a delightful ceremony- and on the 18th of April, Tornado hauled the Yorkshire Pullman out of King's Cross- the first time an A1 has done so in over 40 years!

Tornado is far from the only reborn class. Incredibly, over one hundred thousand pounds have by now been pledged to another project: an original LMS ‘Patriot’. Basically a small-boilered version of the ‘Royal Scots’ (hence the ‘Baby Scot’ nickname), the type was built by Fowler (and some later rebuilt by Stanier, although the new-build will be of the original form), but were withdrawn from service in the 60s too early to be saved by the preservation movement. Already progress is being made: the axle boxes are being lifted from an‘8F’ which has not been restored. In keeping with the convention of naming the class after war-related topics, the new engine will be officially called ‘The Unknown Warrior’ as a special tribute to those who lost their lives in combat. The 'frames appeal' was launched 19th April.

UPDATE!! The website lists the frames as having been already cut at Corus Workshops, but no further information is avaliable. However, interesting news has been released- the Royal British Legion has fully endorsed 'The Unknown Warrior' as the new national Memorial Engine.

Meanwhile, the Great Western Society at Didcot Railway Centre is proceeding with two magnificent projects of their own. The first is one of the more unusual in that it is a restoration rather than a new-build: Steam Railmotor No. 93 and Auto Trailer No. 92. Already a new vertical boiler has been built and brought to Didcot for the Railmotor, cylinder blocks and a new power have all been completed. As for the auto trailer, restoration of the paneling is well underway with both vehicles now at the Llangollen Railway for the construction.

UPDATE!! As of 12 March, one of the major steps has been completed: the 101 year old wooden coach body has been reunited with its underframe. An experimental fitting of the power bogie, coal bunker and boiler has also been carried out.

The second project? A recreation of a Hawksworth ‘County’. The boiler from the same ‘8F’ that donated its axle boxes for the Patriot is being converted into a proper GWR boiler for the new locomotive. The locomotive is a recreation of County no 1014, ‘County of Glamorgan.’
That is not the only GWR tender engine being re-created! Another lost class, the ‘Grange’, is being restored also: no 6880 ‘Betton Grange’ will be the 81st of its class once completed. As of yet, the boiler and cab have been completed, with attention now focusing on the frames.

UPDATES!!! The 'County' continues to progress- as of March, the running late is being marked out for riveting, and the bogie axlebox springs have been delivered. Unfourtunatly, progess during March was constrained by funding issues.

The 'Grange' as of October, has both rubbing plates (where the tender buffers against the engine) fitted, rear buffer beam fully fitted, with slots cut out, the front saddle plate fitted, saddle plate angle fabricated, four angles cut and fitted below cab, and four other angles fitted to hold the buffer beam and saddle plate. In Feburary, the bogie wheels were being tested, and the side brackets are being machined.

NEWS FLASH! A THIRD PROJECT!
A GWR 4-6-0 'Saint' is being built out of a Hall Class locomotive No 4942 “Maindy Hall” back to a Saint )"2999", 'Lady of Legend'), just as it would have been around 1913. As of August it is not far away from completion, with work being done on the fittings and painting the engine! No further information added as of April '09.

Two BR standards are also underway. One of them, a new ‘Clan’ Pacific, Hengist, I have already described in the previous post. The other is a Riddles 3MT 2-6-2 82000 Class. No. 82045 has as far, progressed quite well: drilling of the frames has commenced at the Severn Valley Railway, although finance is a problem given the desperate need the SVR has for funds to repair flood damage from last year’s terrible washouts. However, upon the completion of the 3MT, the group (The 82045 Locomotive Fund) is actually looking to construct more of the same type for use on heritage railways! This would drastically lower the price involved in building the 82000s and allow the possibility to recreate another lost Standard class: the Class 3 77000 mogul. This is an interesting and very unusual scheme: the idea is that these new standard classes will be used extensively on heritage lines to allow preserved railways the chance to relieve pressure on their other rolling stock. This will allow the various lines to save on maintenance on their existing locomotives (and maintaining/servicing steam engines is not cheap). The Bluebell Railway is also converting one of their 2MT 2-6-0 Tender engines into a 2MT 2-6-2T, mainly because the original loco currently lacks a tender, and the Bluebell railway prefers the use of Tank locomotives.

UPDATES!!! Progress has been made on 'Hengist's smokebox by the South Devon Railway, and the ejector exhaust elbow has been completed. As of April, machine work on 82045 is continuing-the firebox support bracket has been completed. The Bluebell's 2MT tank has had its main extension plates drilled.

But it is not only late-period locomotives that are being constructed. The Bluebell Railway has come very close to finishing a recreation of a locomotive that was cut up at Eastleigh just before the preservation society was formed: the Brighton H2 Atlantic ‘Beachy Head’. Incredible as it may seem, no. 32424 is not so far away from completion! As of March 2008, the main frames have been finished: this means that the locomotive can essentially be said to ‘exist’ again!

UPDATES!!! As of 9th April, water cutting of the Motion parts has begun.

Another old type to be reborn is the North Eastern’s O class (better known by LNER’s designation ‘G5’). Again, this small 0-4-4 tank is being rebuilt with service on the small preservation lines. As of April 2008, the boiler and firebox are on order for construction.
UPDATE- News finally! Quote from their post detailing the construction at Great Northern Steam in Darlington: 'The bogie-frames are near to completion and the bogie, minus wheels & axles should be fully assembled for Christmas 2008.'

STOP PRESS! ANOTHER TWO NEW BUILDS!!
Mentioned earlier in the lack of Gresley types remaining in preservation. One of the most keenly missed was the B17 4-6-0, best known as the 'Sandringhams' or 'Footballers'. What is amazing about the project to rebuild this class is that not one- but TWO!! are planned. One of them will be mainline capable and fully operational, and the other will be a static exhibit. The society is so far progressing well, with the B17 cab ready for painting. An order has been placed for a GER-style tender frame.

LATEST NEWS: APRIL 09: nothing about the engine, but the society had a popular appearance at the Barrow Hill 'LNER Gala' recently. Comparisons have been made between the first LNER new-build (Tornado) and this project, and the society is attempting to live up to the expectations created by the A1 Steam Trust's fine work.

A second new build project is a surprising one- a replica LNWR 'Bloomer'- that is actually not too far off completion! Although the project is relatively quiet, work continues at Tyseley Locomotive Works.

NEW ADDITION! 26th April

As described in a recent post, a replica of a Midland South Western Junction Railway Beyer Peacock 2-6-0, nicknamed 'Galloping Gertie', is a new project launched recently. Currently the engine has no parts yet, the group behind it is still in the stages of planning and publicity. Australian enthusiasts should be extra interested since the planned engine is almost a clone of a design used on our railways bar two differences. We wish them the best! (link at the bottom of the page)

Despite their expense and the amount of time/effort they eat up, the new-builds are really a massive part of the future of the steam preservation movement, at least in Britain. There are really no other forms of transport (air, cars, ships) that can boast a massive movement to return long-gone classes/examples to use. The public interest/media coverage given to the remarkable rebirth of steam locomotives all over (one should look merely at Tornado's publicity) is wonderful and bode nothing but good for future projects.

Perhaps, with some luck, Australian preservation groups might be able to find the funds and time to produce some of our own lost types, although this will remain a pipe dream while existing engines need repairs and restoration.

UPDATE!!! Here are the Links to the various websites:

A1 Steam Trust

Patriot Project

County Project

Betton Grange Trust

Hengist Trust

Railmotor no 93

GWR 'Saint'

B17 Project

LNWR Bloomer

Bluebell Railway 'Beachy Head'

Bluebell Railway 2MT Project

Riddles 3MT Fund

G5 Group

MSWJR 'Galloping Gertie'