July 2019 •The Railway Magazine•71Churnet Valley’s ‘S160’ steps in
to cover Dartmouth steam shortage
CHURNETValley Railway-based
‘S160’No. 6046 has followed
in the tracks of its Batt Holden
Ltd stablemate No. 5197 by
going on hire to the Dartmouth
Steam Railway in May.
The 2-8-0, seen here at
Waterside with the 14.15service from Paignton to
Kingswear on May 30, was
brought in to cover a shortage
of power following the
withdrawal of resident‘Manor’
7827 Lydham Manorwith boiler
problems.
The‘Manor’has since movedto Riley & Son at Heywood for
rectification, butToddington-
based classmate No. 7820
Dinmore Manorwill continue
to fly the flag for the class on
the line during the summer
months.
STEPHEN GINN‘Crab&Winkle’Invicta
re-homedinWhitstable
CANTERBURY &Whitstable
Railway (C&WR) 0-4-0Invicta
left its long-term home in the
city of Canterbury on June 16 to
become the star exhibit in the
Whitstable Community Museum
and Gallery.
The veteran locomotive was
constructed in 1829 at Robert
Stephenson & Co’s Forth Street
works in Newcastle immediately
after the world-famousRocket.
On arrival in Whitstable it was
gingerly craned over a string of
rooftops and lowered into its
new home, some 189 years after
it first arrived in the coastal town.
Invictahas been joined in
its new home by a stationary
winding engine, which was also
built by Robert Stephenson
for the C&WR, and used to
cable-haul trains at Clowes
Wood. It is the world’s oldest
surviving railway winding engine,
pre-dating the National Railway
Museum’s Weatherhill and
Swannington engines.
Invictais owned by theTransportTrust but on long-term
loan to Canterbury City Council
(CCC). Until 2017 it was on
display at the former Canterbury
Heritage Museum in Stour Street,
having previously spent 70 years
in the open air in the Dane John
Gardens.
Relocation of the loco was
required after the museum
building was acquired to
become the home of the
Marlowe Kit theatre and, after
extensive public consultation,
CCCvotedtomoveittothe
Whitstable museum.
“It’s the start of a new chapter
inInvicta’slife, under the careful
and loving stewardship of a
great team of volunteers who
runWhitstable Museum,”said
Neil Baker, chairman of CCC’s
community committee.
“They have worked their socks
off to make this happen over the
last few years, and I know they
will make a success of showing
off this fantastic piece of railway
history.”The 1829-built Canterbury
& Whitstable Railway 0-4-0
Invictain its previous home
at the Canterbury Heritage
Museum prior to being
transferred to Whitstable.LCLT contracts Loughborough
firm to overhaul sole-surviving ‘J21’
THE Locomotive Conservation
& LearningTrust (LCLT) has
contracted DavidWright’s
Locomotive Maintenance Services
of Loughborough to carry out the
restoration of its North Eastern
Railway‘J21’0-6-0 No. 65033.
Two low-loaders belonging to
Reid Freight Services Ltd arrived
at Locomotion, Shildon on
June 4 to collect the 1889-built
loco and its tender, which arrived
in Loughborough later that
evening.
Work on the Heritage Lottery
Fund-supported project was
expected to begin during
mid-June.
The LCLT is continuing with
the parallel restoration of its
1902-built ex-NER‘H2’stores van
No. 5523 at the Stainmore Railway,at Kirkby Stephen East station,
where both the‘J21’and the van
will be based.
New pieces of timber have
now been inserted into the body
framing to repair fire-damaged
areas, and original metal knee
irons have been reconditioned to
brace the framing to the van floor.
The van’s doors have also
recently been laid out for detailed
assessment of their condition,
and the work required to restore
them.
No. 65033 is the last remaining
example of the 201-strong
‘J21’class, which had a strong
association with the Stainmore
route prior to its withdrawal by
BR in 1962.
It last steamed at Beamish
Museum in 1983.EXUNITED States ArmyTransport
Corps‘S160’2-8-0 No. 2253 has
been namedOmahain honour of
the British and Allied servicemen
that took part in the D-Day
landings 75 years ago.
The Baldwin-built locomotive
is currently in the final stages of
overhaul at the NorthYorkshire
Moors Railway and received
its new nameplates and
commemorative plaque to mark
the 75thanniversary of the D-Day
landings on June 6.
The name was chosen by
No. 2253’s owner Peter Best,
whose father, Sqn Ldr Norman
Best, was a radar specialist who
took part in the D-Day invasion,
landing with the American troops
at Omaha beach.
He was part of a small RAF
mobile radar unit –GCI 15082
of No. 21 Base Defence Sector –
which was to control the Allied
fighters that provided night-time
air cover over the beachhead.
The unit landed 30 vehicles
from five landing craft during the
evening of June 6, 1944.
The exceptionally strong
resistance encountered resulted in
the unit having to land at low tide
and under heavy fire.Military Cross
Only eight of the 30 vehicles
were subsequently capable
of being driven off the beach,
the unit suffering 47 casualties,
including 10 fatalities. Sqn Ldr Best
was awarded the Military Cross for
his bravery on that day.
No. 2253 was shipped to France
from the UK as a direct result of
the Allied advance in the summer
of 1944, where it had worked on
the LNER from Neville Hill shed,
Leeds.
Once on the Continent it
supported the advance into
Belgium and Germany, before
finally being sold to Polish State
Railways (PKP) in 1947.The loco can claim another
link to the D-Day landings. Upon
completion of this overhaul
it will go on long-term hire to
the Dartmouth Steam Railway,
whose line to Kingswear
would have seen regular‘S160’
workings on the run up to D-Day.
Ten of the class were allocated
to Newton Abbot shed at this
time, with both Dartmouth
and Kingswear serving as
embarkation ports for the
American forces landing on
Omaha and Utah beaches.
The overhaul itself is virtually
complete.The loco was steam
tested at Grosmont on June 6
and again five days later when
the boiler was taken up to 200psi
and the safety valves set.
An issue was found with the
left-hand injector and a number
of minor leaks were also found,
but these have since been
rectified.
A return to action is imminent.‘S160’ named in honour of D-Day heroes
No. 2253 on test at Grosmont with its new nameplates (inset).ANDREW JEFFERY/PETER BEST
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