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The Maunsell Locomotive Society (MLS) is responsible for five steam locomotives designed my Richard Maunsell, who was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway from 1923 to 1937. Four of the locomotives were rescued from Barry Scrapyard, and all of these have been restored to working order by members of the Society alongside the Bluebell Railway’s workshop staff. The fifth locomotive, Schools class No.928 Stowe, was bought directly from British Railways by Lord Montagu and subsequently acquired by the MLS. The Society is based at the Bluebell Railway in East Sussex, where the five-strong fleet represents the largest collection of Maunsell-designed locos. The MLS has won a number of accolades for its work, including the Heritage Railway Association’s John Coiley Award in 2006 for “restoring and maintaining their fleet of Maunsell locomotives, as exemplified by the restoration of ‘U’ class 2 6 0 No.1638 from scrapyard condition. Overhauling steam locos is an expensive pastime; for example the MLS spent £187,000 on the overhaul of ‘S15’ class No.847. This kind of work is financed by contributions from the Society’s members and supporters, and by generous donations and bequests. A number of our members are also directly involved in the overhaul and maintenance of the Society’s locos; we encourage new members to join our regular working parties at Sheffield Park and enjoy the ‘hands-on’ experience of being actively involved with steam locomotives. . Our current projects Of our five locomotives, two are currently being worked on while the other three are waiting their turn for attention. No.928 Stowe is in the midst of a major overhaul, the first it has received since arriving at the Bluebell in 1980. This is being undertaken at an outside contractor. ‘Q’ class No.541 is a useful and economical loco, and the railway wanted to see returned to traffic as quickly as possible after it was withdrawn in 2022. The Bluebell Railway is therefore funding the bulk of the work required, with the MLS contributing £40,000 towards the cost of renewing the tender. Updates on the progress of work on these locos are produced regularly – every quarter in the printed publication Bluebell News, and every month in the e-mailed Bluebell Times. Bluebell Members receive Bluebell News automatically; Bluebell Times will be sent out on application to the Editor at bluebelltimes@bluebell-railway.com. Updates also appear on Facebook whenever there is something of interest to report. |  Schools class Cheltenham and our own S15 No.847 |