Newsletter No.4

July 1979

Cover Photograph: 1618 at Redhill, (platform 2), with a through train from Birkenhead via Chester and Birmingham for Ramsgate, Folkestone Hastings and Brighton. Date Unknown. Courtesy Ian Allan Library

In this edition click to go further to:

Financial Matters or 847 - a Historical Survey

Editorial

More important changes are taking place within the society though your support will be needed to ensure success. Talks have been held between the management committee of this Society and the committee of the Maunsell Q Society, owners of 30541 which was delivered to Sheffield Park last October, to see if the two groups can work towards a common aim of more co-operation between each other in order that each groups locomotives can be restored to working order.

Further details will have to be worked out but some degree of unity will be beneficial to both groups.

In the weeks since the last newsletter was published the membership has shown its strength by supporting our financial appeal to the sum of £2,000 plus. However more financial support is needed if we are to repay the loan that was used to secure 847 from Barry, we have until the end of August to find a further £5,000, we can do it, with YOUR help.

Financial

The response from the membership for the appeal to repay the loan that was used to secure 847 from Barry has been very good but far more support is needed if we are to reach our financial target of £7,000 by September 1st. After this date the interest free loan will be at Bank Rate. So far over £2,000 has been raised with more support promised but unless every member helps us pay off the loan we will not succeed in our aims. A good way of helping the society is by becoming a Life Member at the present rate of £20.00. At the moment we have some 120 Life members out of a total membership of just over 400. Our thanks go to the many members who have showed their support. Memberships/ donations to Rodney Packham at his address below.

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Restoration Work

Work has been concentrated on 847 in recent weeks although a small amount of time was spent on 1618 in connection with a visual examination by the boiler inspector. 1618 is now back in passenger service and has been used fairly regularly. Last year 1618 covered 4170 miles, well above her 1977 total and a great many more than the other loco's on the Bluebell Railway.

Work on 847 has been proceeding steadily although we would welcome more help from the membership. Skilled or not a job can always be found so contact Martin Allen if you are interested in helping. 847 has been moved from the siding where she was unloaded and she can now be found on the siding at the far side of the yard adjacent to the pump house. The engine and tender are now coupled together and our thanks go to the Bluebell workshop staff for completing this job. One of the first big jobs that will have to be done is the removal of the boiler from the frames to allow for a thorough examination and for work to be carried out as required. To allow for this the cab is gradually being stripped down and this work will continue for some time. Some fittings are being cleaned and overhauled away from site by Ray Bellingham. Contact is being made with other groups who have interests in S15 loco's and it is hoped that further essential fittings will be obtained as a result of this. Some fittings have recently been obtained from the Keighley and Worth Valley railway and we are grateful to Roger Cruse for locating these.

General cleaning and priming has been carried out on the tender and in the cab, the original paintwork on the tender sides being chipped off to obtain a good surface. The top layer of paintwork was burnt off by Norman James to reveal the original SOUTHERN lettering and No. 828. (The tender was obtained from locomotive 30828 as 847's tender had been sold some time ago).

Costs on the restoration work have so far been kept to a minimum but the time will come when little progress will be made unless money is spent. In view of this the committee has agreed to purchase its own oxy-acetylene cutting and welding set but this can be the only purchase until 847 has been paid for.

RDRD

Our thanks go to Richard Derry for offering the Society an half page free advertisement on page 28 in his forthcoming 120 page book: Richard Derry's Railway Diary published by Steam and Diesel Publications, ISBN 0 9506499 0 2 at £2.95. The book is available from: Paul Skinner.

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AGM

This years A.G.M. will probably be held earlier in the year than usual probably during August. Exact details will be sent out with newsletter 5. Among subjects for discussion will be the financial situation of the Society and co-operation of the Maunsell Q society and ourselves. We are in the process of forming a Limited Company to protect our liability and by the time you read this the Company should have been formed. Our treasurer, Andy Housden, has decided to retire from the committee and his place will be taken by Mary Bellingham. Pete Nicholson, who has been active in railway preservation for several years, has been co-opted on to the committee. These changes will be ratified at the meeting.

More Fund Raising

In order to raise some additional finance we are now collecting used postage stamps for re-sale in bulk to a dealer. For this to be worthwhile we need very large quantities, but all types of postage stamps are acceptable - even the common 7p and 9p's. Commemoratives, high values and British Islands, (Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey) can all be particularly remunerative. We all receive mail so it is a scheme in which all members, plus their friends, colleagues at work etc. can participate.

Stamps should be carefully torn, or cut round leaving about 1/4inch of envelope paper all around the stamp. When a reasonable quantity has been collected they should be sent to the address below or taken to Sheffield Park where they should be given to a Maunsell Society committee member. Arrangements for a collecting point on the railway are being made and it is hoped to obtain the full support of B.R.P.S. members also, just as for the waste paper collection, made for the two standard locos, 80100 and 92240.

The current price for G.B. commemorative stamps on paper is £1.20 per pound weight - this requiring over 2,000 stamps so as you will realise we need every member to search out all the stamps they can find, old pre decimal ones are giving a good return. Stamps will be sorted to obtain the best prices in each category but soaking off from the backing paper is not considered worthwhile, the outlet for overseas stamps is still being investigated to find the most profitable means, this depending on the quantities being received. Thanks in anticipation ... Pete Nicholson, 17 Crossland Road, West Ewell, Epsom, Surrey.

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Sales

Paul Skinner has been active making a good profit for us at Tonbridge, at a Kent and East Sussex exhibition earlier this year and at the Bluebell on parade day in May. Further sales stands are due to be held this summer. Postal sales have been disappointing, remember Paul can supply books from all the leading railway publishers. One item of particular interest at the moment is the latest edition of Locomotives Illustrated. No.18. The Maunsell Moguls. Our own 1618 is featured on the cover with another colour photograph of her on the centre pages. Well worth the price at 65p. plus 10p postage Martin Allen. Pauls address is 4 The Glebe, Saffron Walden, Essex.

Membership Notes

We have just over 400 members, 120 of these being Life members. The current rate for Life Membership is £20.00 although this is expected to go up. If you are thinking of becoming a life Member we would advise you to do it now. By the way, is your address on our records up to date, please notify Rodney Packham of changes in address.

Please also note that Martin Allen has moved to the Brighton area, his new address is given below.

Committee Members

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847-An Historical Survey

Part 1

847 passing Raynes Park with a train from Waterloo to Bournemouth West in 1937.

Photo: Bournemouth Railway Club.

847 was briefly described in Newsletter number 3, but it is thought that members might be interested in a more detailed history of the locomotive. It is particularly interesting to discover that the present boiler was originally built for King Arthur number 456 Sir Galahad in 1925!

In the days of steam, it was the normal practice of various locomotive works to overhaul engines on the "maintenance by replacement" principal. In other words items such as spare boilers would be overhauled in readiness and upon an engine entering the works requiring attention to it's boiler, a direct exchange would be made, thereby reducing the time that the engine was out of service. The S15's were particularly suitable in this respect, as their boilers were interchangeable with those of the King Arthurs. So it came to be that 30847 received boiler number 456 (the boiler registration number being taken from the engine to which it was first fitted), in June 1960. This was the last overhaul undertaken on this boiler and work carried out was as follows:

6680 copper firebox stays renewed
10 Firebox crown bars refitted
4 Firebox roof stays renewed
418 Firebox stay holes bushed
New copper tube plate fitted
New half sides to Firebox wrapping plate fitted
Protection patch fitted to steel tube plate
24 new rivets fitted in steel tube plate
167 2" small flue tubes (new "Phoenix" type) fitted
24 new superheater elements (Superheater Co. type) fitted.

Prior to the above work being carried out, a completely new copper firebox was manufactured and fitted in March 1953.

Boiler number 456 was the subject of a unique experiment in 1946, when owing to pressure of work at Eastleigh, it was sent to Portsmouth Dockyard for repairs. The locomotive department committee minutes for 24th July 1946 record the facts as follows:

Boiler repairs, King Arthur class and similar engines

It was reported that in connection with repair work to locomotive boilers of the King Arthur class and similar engines, arrangements have been made for one boiler to be sent to H.M. Dockyard, Portsmouth for the carrying out there of the necessary repairs.

The dockyard authorities were unable to give a firm estimate for the work, which would be under conditions of direct cost, plus material charges, plus overhead charges (about 100%) and the repair of the one boiler was to be regarded as a trial of the work and of the cost.

This work was effected during November 1946 under works order number 10298 and again a new copper firebox was fitted, together with new steel tube and throat plates. It is assumed that for some reason (presumably financial) the exercise was never repeated and the boiler record card states that the repairs were "completed at Eastleigh".

Throughout its 35 year active life, boiler number 456 was fitted to many King Arthur and S15 engines and twice saw service with 30777 Sir Lamiel, now part of the National Collection. Exchanges were as follows:

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(All repairs effected at Eastleigh, except where noted.)

This survey has been compiled from material held at the Public Record Office, Kew and the National Railway Museum, York. Grateful thanks are also due to member Mike Frackiewicz for unearthing some of the above information.

Part 2 of this survey will cover 847's current bogie tender, whose history is equally interesting!

Martin Allen.

Late News

The Society were presented with a portapac cutting and welding set by B.O.C. Ltd. at Sheffield Park on Sunday May 20th. Further details in newsletter 5.

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