The Railway Magazine – July 2019

July 2019 •The Railway Magazine•75

Have you got a story for us? Email: [email protected]

Southern Railway‘S15’No. 506 arrives at Medstead & Four Marks station with its first train during the

loco’s first full day in Mid-Hants Railway traffic on June 2.EDWARD DYER

Urie 4-6-0 is the newest addition

to Mid-Hants operating fleet

THE Urie Locomotive Society’s
(ULS) newly overhauled‘S15’
4-6-0 No. 506 became the newest
addition to the Mid-Hants
Railway’s operating fleet when it
was formally handed over to the
line’s operating department on
June 2.
The Eastleigh-built 4-6-0 last ran
in 2001, and made its triumphant
return to service resplendent
in Southern unlined black with
‘sunshine’lettering.
The handover was carried out at
Alresford station by ULS honorary
president Bob Urie, grandson of
the‘S15’s’designer Robert Urie.
During his speech he paid
tribute to the ULS’determination
and commitment to see
the project through, and
acknowledged the engineering
skill and expertise that went in to

completing the project.

Speeches were also made

by ULS chairman Mark Pedley

and patron Mark Collins, after

which the loco was passed into

the care of the MHR’s general

manager Jason Houlders and put

straight into service with a run to

Medstead & Four Marks.

Challenging

The‘S15’s’comeback marked

the completion of one of the most

challenging projects undertaken

at Ropley.

This involved the complete

renewal of the front 9ft of the

frames after it was discovered the

tops of the cylinders had been

pushed out by ¼in.The cause was

severe corrosion and wastage of

the frame plates, and the cylinders

had to be removed in order to

access the affected areas.

Extensive boiler repairs have

been completed, including copper

welding to the inner firebox and

total replacement of the crown

stays, along with a comprehensive

bottom-end overhaul.

The ULS has no plans to sit on its

laurels, however, and with No. 506

now in traffic the society can focus

its attention on the restoration of

sister engine No. 499, which has

never run in preservation.

Some work has already been

carried out on the dismantled loco,

including the fitting of the centre

casting, some preparatory work

on the boiler and the casting on a

new stovepipe chimney.

A video clip from No. 506’s

launch can be found at our

Railway Hub website at:

http://www.therailwayhub.co.uk

No. 30925Cheltenhamis a long way from home as it prepares to

leave Darlington with the RCTS’‘East Midlander’railtour on May 13,

1962. The‘Schools’is being returned to this guise at the Mid-Hants
      Railway this summer.COLOURRAIL

THE National Railway Museum

has agreed for its Maunsell‘V’

class 4-4-0Cheltenhamto be

returned to British Railways livery

as No. 30925 at the Mid-Hants

Railway (MHR).

The repaint into lined BR

Brunswick green with later style

crest on the tender will be carried

out by Heritage Painting by the

end of August.

The cost is being partly borne

by photographic charter operator

TimeLine Events, which has

launched an appeal for anyone

keen to see the locomotive

appear in its BR guise for the first

time since 1962.

Those contributing £75 or

more to the appeal will receive a

discount on tickets for exclusive

charters with the loco at the MHR

this autumn and in the spring of

next year.

The decision to repaint the

loco comes from necessity as

the current Southern Railway

Malachite green is now seven

years old and showing signs of

considerable deterioration.

The MHR hopes the repaint

will not only protect the loco but

also generate renewed interest

and help generate additional

revenue during the remainder of

Cheltenham’sboiler ticket.

“We are pleased to be able

to accommodate this initiative

and look forward to seeing

Cheltenhamemerge in a smart

and exciting new livery,”said MHR

general manager Jason Houlders.

“Welookforwardtore-creating

the sight of Southern Region

passenger workings in the

early-1960s with a lined out

‘Schools’on our fleet of green Mk1

carriages.”

Donations to the repaint appeal

can be made by cheque, BACS

transfer or PayPal. Cheques

should be made payable to

Mid-Hants Railway Limited and

sent toTimeLine Events, 22 Bede

Drive, Andover, Hampshire,

SP10 4EQ. Alternatively contact

Neil Cave via email at neil@

timelineevents.org

BR livery forCheltenham

HAWKSWORTH‘94XX’

0-6-0PT No. 9466, once the

pride and joy of the late

Dennis Howells MBE, has been

bought for an undisclosed

sum by Jonathan Jones-Pratt.

The acquisition takes the

West Somerset Railway plc

chairman’s stable of BR(W)/

GWR locomotives to three,

joining Hall’No. 4936Kinlet

Halland No. 7027Thornbury

Castle.

The pannier was offered for

sale earlier this year (RMMay)

by Mr Howells’sister, who

wanted both a good home for

the 1952-built loco, but also

for it to continue to be used

in line with her late brother’s

wishes on the main line as

well as heritage railways.

Mr Jones-Pratt said:“I’m

delighted to have been

able to buy No. 9466 from

Dennis’family, and have

every intention of not only

running the loco on heritage

lines and the main line, but

also holding the loco support

group together too as a

commitment to keeping his

legacy going.

“At this time, I have not

decided on a permanent

base for No. 9466, but it’ll

preferably be those lines with

covered accommodation

and main line connections

capable of running GWR Red

route engines.

“There are a number of

possible heritage railways on

my radar to consider.”

The loco is currently based

at the Buckinghamshire

Railway Centre, but will return

to the South Devon Railway in

July for the summer.

The BR black pannier visited

the line in April for the SDR’s

50 thanniversary celebrations,

and proved well suited to the

branch operation.

Thornbury Castleowner

buys pannier No. 9466

‘P2’ construction makes progress behind the scenes

THINGS may appear to have

gone quiet in Darlington, but

the A1 Steam LocomotiveTrust

(A1SLT) continues to make what it

described as“a lot of essential but

relatively unspectacular”progress

on the construction of new-build

Gresley‘P2’2-8-2 No. 2007Prince

of Wales.

The £181,000 order for the

Mikado’s motion was placed

with Stephenson Engineering

in Manchester last year, which

includes the forging, machining

and heat treatment of the

coupling and connecting rods.

The first of the intermediate

coupling rods is expected to be

delivered soon, and the trust has

now received the first of the two

outside motion brackets which,

following inspection, has been

fitted to the frames (see photo).

On the subject of the frames,

the 10 remaining spring hanger

brackets have been ordered,

which represent the last of the

frame components.The fitting

of the motion brackets and

spring hangers will complete

the frame structure.The pony

truck cannonbox, meanwhile, is

back withTimson Engineering at

Kettering for final machining.

Above the running plate, the

draft of the updated Diagram

118a boiler design has been

received from DB Meiningen

in Germany, which built the

boiler for‘A1’No. 60163Tornado.

Meiningen has subsequently

been awarded the £1million

contract to construct two boilers

to this design (see Headline

News).

At the back end the order for

the tender tank has been placed

with NorthView Engineering

Solutions.The base plate was due

to reach Ian Howitt’s works at

Crofton during June for

pre-fitting to the frames, with the

completed tank due for delivery

to Darlington LocomotiveWorks

in September.

Mr Howitt is erecting the tender

frames, with the spring hanger

and tank brackets attached

to the frame plates and major

components made, including the

drag boxes.

More than £2million has

been spent onPrince of Wales’

construction, with £2.5m raised

to date and £3.2m pledged of the

required £5m sum.

The right-hand motion bracket in situ on June 21.DANIELA FILOVA