Newsletter No.3
February 1979
Front cover photograph: 30847 is
winched off the transporter and onto the rails at Sheffield Park
Photograph Pete Nicholson
In this edition click to go further to:
Financial Matters or Maunsell Society/847 Group Merger or Moving Story
We start this newsletter with the details of the important changes that have taken place in the past three months. First and most important the 847 LOCOMOTIVE PRESERVATION GROUP and ourselves have now become one society, this is a result of lengthy discussions between the two groups committees and was ratified at the A.G.M. at the end of October. As a result we now have a far larger membership but we also have more responsibilities, the most important one being financial.
As many of our members will have seen 847 is now at Sheffield Park and a start has been made on the long task of restoring her to working order. The restoration of 847 will be a far bigger job than that of our mogul 1618 so your continued support is essential.
At the A.G.M. of the Maunsell Locomotive Society on the 29th. October 1978 the merger of the two groups was ratified by the members present. The 847 Locomotive Preservation Group held a meeting in conjunction with the A.G.M. and their members agreed to the merger. It was decided to keep the existing name of the Society although this may be altered slightly when we become a limited company. As has already been mentioned in the editorial we are now a far larger society but we do have greater responsibilities. 847 has cost £9,000 + vat to purchase her from Mr. Woodham, the transport charges from Barry to the Bluebell Railway came to almost Three Thousand Pounds and this makes a total of some Twelve Thousand Pounds. That all this has been achieved is a credit to all concerned but it has only been made possible with the aid of a private loan of Seven Thousand Pounds which must be repaid, however now that there is a far larger group to support this new venture we consider that this financial target is realistic.
As a result of the merger of the two groups the management committee consists of Nr. M. Allen, (General Secretary), Mr. R. Bellingham, (Chairman), Mr. A. Housden, (Treasurer), Mr. R. Packham, (Membership Secretary), Mr. J. Hatfield, Mr. N. James and Mr. D. Stubbs are general committee members.
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847 was selected from the four Maunsell S15s left at Barry because she was considered to be the best of those remaining in the scrapyard. Even so there is a great deal of work to complete on her, the valve gear has to be completely rebuilt from our collection of parts and a new set of coupling rods either made or obtained. Brasses and covers are needed for the axleboxes on the tender which is the eight wheeled bogie tender. The boiler may need retubing although the superheater elements and flue tubes are thought to be sound. The boiler will need to have a complete set of fittings supplied because all the originals have long been removed, some fittings have already been offered to us. Eventually the boiler of 847 will have to be lifted out of the frames for examination purposes.
847 was built at the Eastleigh works of the Southern Railway in 1936 and was the last 4-6-0 to be built by the Southern Railway, The Maunsell S15s were designed to work on express freight trains but were often to be found on passenger workings. During its working life from 1936 to 1964 847 is known to have worked from Exmouth Junction (December '46) and in later years from Redhill shed on the Central division. She is known to have completed over 930,000 miles during her active life.
Work is usually carried out on 847 on Sundays and volunteers have been in attendance on the locomotive on most Sundays since she was moved from Barry. So far work has been restricted to getting the engine and tender cleaned of years of grime and rust. Our more technical team of Ray Bellingham and Martin Allen have been sorting out the valve gear and assessing exactly what we have and what is still needed, they have also carried out a study of the general condition of the engine and tender. The reversing gear has been dismantled and is being freed and contact is being established with other groups who may have spare S15 fittings.
We are very grateful to all those members who have helped with the work so far and all members who need details of future working parties should contact Martin Allen.
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As we have mentioned earlier the purchase of 847 has only been made possible with the aid of a £7,000 loan, this being made available to us from a member. The terms of the loan are that it is interest free until the start of September 1979 and from then on it is at Bank Rate. As you will realise it is important that as much cash as possible is raised between now and September to keep interest charges to a minimum, we must really pay the capital during 1979 so that money can be spent on the restoration work. Although Seven Thousand Pounds sounds a great deal of money it amounts to some £25.00 for each member, not a great deal in these days of inflation. Remember 847 is the only form of security that we have in the event of not being able to pay back this money and should we fail in our efforts the only alternative for us would be to resell 847, either for scrap or to another preservation group should any be interested. A start has been made towards building up the funds for the repayment and with your help we can make the scheme viable.
Expenditure is being kept to a minimum but we are in the process of forming a Limited Company and we will have some expenses because of this, Jim Hatfield has been doing the preparation work to this end.
The bill for the movement of 847 from Barry to Sheffield Park has been paid.
Our favourite mogul worked until the end of October when she was expected to be rested until the spring, however owing to further piston rod trouble with the Wainwright C class 1618 reappeared in service during the Christmas weekend. In the Autumn she was again used for a little film work for which we have received a fee. During 1978 she was frequently used and performed well throughout the season
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Plans to move 847 from Barry to Sheffield Park were first made during mid August, when it was agreed with the Bluebell Railway that we would co-ordinate the transportation arrangements to include 847, the two B.R. "Standards" purchased from Barry by the Bluebell (9F 92240 and Standard Tank 80100) and the Southern "Q" class 30541, which was to be transferred from the Dowty Railway Preservation Society at Ashchurch, Gloucestershire. This would mean a considerable saving in transport costs, enable tools, equipment and manpower to be combined and would also be good publicity for all concerned, as this was to be the biggest ever movement of preserved locomotives by road.
George Nickson, of the Bluebell Railway locomotive department, masterminded the transport arrangements for the four engines. A total of twelve quotations were obtained, of which the one from Messrs. Wrekin Roadways of Telford, was accepted as the cheapest at £10,530 for four engines and two tenders. It was agreed that the movements would take place during the first two weeks of October.
The three Barry engines had been paid for on 12th. September, at a total cost of around £25,000. After the presentation of the cheques, we were invited by Dai Woodham to sample the local Brains Bitter at a nearby hostelry, "The Waters Edge", several of the delegation (the writer included) being driven there by Dai Woodham himself, in the back of his Rolls Royce Silver Cloud. The ensuing conversations between Dai and ourselves would have filled several issues of "Railway Magazine"! It was agreed that we could obtain missing parts for our engines, from other engines in the yards at Barry, which were not reserved for other groups. Arrangements were made for these to be obtained during 16th to 24th September. Again efforts were combined and a 12 ton low-loader hired from Wally Parsons (a Bluebell member) together with hired vans, packed with tools and equipment, plus George Nickson's caravan, set off for Barry.
Following our arrival, a section of Woodham's yard soon resembled a gipsy encampment with caravans, tents and vans arrayed! During the week the weather was superb (very unusual for Wales!) with blazing sunshine all day, which was perhaps a little too hot for comfort! Unfortunately, the turnout of 847 Fund members was disappointing (perhaps due to the short notice given) which meant that several vital items required for 847 had to be left behind, as there was no time available to obtain them. This problem was compounded by the fact that we had agreed several months before, to attend exhibition venues with our sales stand on both weekends, which meant that the committee had, literally, to be in two places at once! Grateful thanks however are due to members Allan Paterson of Woking and Robert Hamilton of London, who made the effort and whose services were much appreciated.
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Further assistance came from the "9F" gang and of course your hard working committee. As one indication of the work done, the writer expended nearly 1000 cubic feet of oxyacetylene in cutting out spare parts. Although the weather was on our side, time was not and towards the end of the week the 847 gang, almost exhausted, were working from about 8am until dark, without a break and then well into the night with the aid of gas-lit floodlighting! However, those who visited Sheffield Park during the following week, were greeted with the sight of part of the staff car park looking more like a vast "exploded diagram" featuring innumerable parts of S15, 9F and Standard Tank all neatly laid out!
The first of the locomotives to arrive at Sheffield Park was 9F 92240 which was unloaded on Friday 6th October. This was quickly followed by Q class 30541, in fact the two engines travelled together for the latter part of the journey, much to the consternation of car drivers en route!
Maunsell Q class 0-6-0 being transported from Ashchurch to Sheffield Park.
Photograph: Pete Nicholson. .
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Meanwhile, back at Barry more fittings were being obtained for the 9F and 847, whilst the Standard Tank, 80100 was being prepared for loading. This was carried out during Sunday 8th October, to be followed by 847 in the afternoon. 847 was loaded without problems and sent on it's way, but owing to road works in Cardiff and difficulties in obtaining a police escort, was sent back to the yard to stop over for the night. 847 must, therefore, have the unique distinction of being delivered to Barry scrap yard twice! Loading 847's tender was not as easy however, as the rear bogie contrived to derail itself halfway up the ramp and had to be re-railed. Once on the low-loader it was found that the front vacuum cylinder trunnions fouled the "swan neck" of the low-loader. There was no option but to unload it and to run the low-loader around the tender and load it up the other way round. This time loading went off without problems and departure was on Monday 9th. 80100 arrived at Sheffield Park during the morning of Wednesday 11th, 847's tender having arrived before the loco, was unloaded early in the evening, this time without difficulty. 847 herself arrived on Thursday 12th at about midday. This was on a 64-wheel heavy transporter, which in itself was a most interesting piece of machinery, being fully steerable with the use of auxiliary engines mounted on the transporter itself. This was duly manoeuvred into position and unloaded successfully in front of a large audience of assembled visitors who had heard of 847's impending arrival. Both engine and tender were then shunted to the end of the siding by "P" class number 323 "Bluebell", conveniently between the station buffet and the workshop (!), a prominent site alongside the car park.
Much credit for the entire operation should go to the Wrekin team, whose expertise and good humour were much in evidence during the week. Thanks are due to all Bluebell staff and volunteers, particularly George Nickson who planned the entire transport arrangements.
The full story behind "The Move" will be published in the February issue of "Railway World" and will include photographs of 847.
Martin Allen.
Footnote. There are still many fittings to be collected from Barry to ensure that 847 can be restored and arrangements are being made for a working party to visit Barry and collect the outstanding items. This is being done with Mr. Woodhams permission. Please advise the Secretary if you would like to help with this work, it is likely that the work will be carried out over a complete week.
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Talks on the society have been given at Ashford and Rainham, (the Kent ones) by Dave Stubbs and at Putney by Martin Allen. An exhibition featuring the Maunsell S15s and particularly 847 is currently being held at the Midland Bank, 5 Dingwall Road, East Croydon, (five minutes from East Croydon Station). This includes many photographs and drawings, together with a 7½" gauge model of a Maunsell S15, owned by member Les Warnett of Wivelsfield. The exhibition will be open until the end of January and may be viewed during normal banking hours.
On the Sales side Paul Skinner has arranged two venues for 1979 and these are at Exhibitions at Ongar and Tonbridge, we are always on the lookout for any Railwayana and if any members have any items they are prepared to donate to the society please contact Martin Allen. Help is needed with the manning of the sales stands and any volunteers for this worthwhile job should contact Paul. Also railway books are available to order from the following publishers, Ian Allan, Batsford, Bradford Barton, David and Charles, Moorland Publishing Co., The Oakwood Press, Oxford Publishing Company, The R.C.T.S. and Almark Books. Please send your orders to Paul Skinner, 4 The Glebes, (Fairview Estate), Saffron Walden, Essex. Cash with orders please. Remember any profits that the society earns through your orders will go towards 847 and 1618.
Please note that all membership matters, renewals, donations etc., should be sent to Mr. R. Packham, 132 Church Road, Swanscombe, Kent. DA10 OHP.
Members are reminded that subscriptions for 1979 are now due, current membership rates are, Annual Subscription £2.00. Life Subscription £20.00.
All other matters are now being dealt with by the General Secretary, Martin Allen, and he should be contacted at 47 Hillside Grove, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 9DA.
Our thanks go to David Olsen-Hopper for offering the Society a full page free advertisement in his forthcoming 40 page book: High Flying Trains, Volume 1, Recapturing Steam.
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