September 2019 RAIL EXPRESS 75
PRESERVATION
IN BRIEF
NEW ENGINEBLOCK FOR‘37’
THE Class 37Loco Group has acquired an
English Electric 12SVMk.2 powerunit,
built in 1967, from an industrial sitefor
use in No. 37003following the discovery
of crackswithin the main crank of the
loco’s engine earlier thisyear.The engine
block from the newly-purchased unit will
be built up using components from the
current powerunit.
The group estimates thework will
add£27,000 to the cost of theoverhaul
of No. 37003, which is being carried out
at UKRL’sLeicest er depot. It had been
hoped itwould be back in service as
No. D6703 in timeforits 60th
anniversary in December 2020, but now
this maynolongerbep ossi ble. An appeal
forfunds has been made to assist in
returning the ‘37’ toworkin gorder.‘47’ TO BE SCRAPPED
MOVED to the DeanForest Railway earlier
this year,No. 47524 isexpected to
undergo componentrecovery,providing
part sfor ot her surviving Class 47s, before
being disposed of.Bought from EWS
in 2003, it hadashort spell atTyseley
before being transferred to the Churnet
ValleyRailway,wheresomeresto ration
work wascarried outover aperiod of
severalyears. Howeve r, the BrushType 4
has neverrun in preservation.6-PAN UNDERFRAME
ON THEMOVE
THEIsle of Wight SteamRailway has
acquired the underframe of ‘6-PAN’
Corridor Third(TFK) No. S12235S
(latterlyDS70277) from the SpaValley
Railway, primarily to pr ovide aspareset
of bogies. Thevehicle wasone of several
which, after withdrawal, ha dtheir bodies
removedfor use as crane matchwagons.CLASS20RETURNSTOGCR
AFTE Ravisit to Barrow Hill forrepairs,
No.D8098 (20098)returnedtot he
Great CentralRailway on July1.T he loco
undertookaloade dtest run with
No.37714CardiffCantonon July28.KITCHENCARTOBE
RESTOREDATEASTLEIGH
IN late July, Mk.1 Restaurant Unclassified
(RU) No. 1987, which later became Brake
ForceRunner No. DB975982,wasmoved
from theKent &East SussexRailwayto
Eastleigh, whereitistoberestoredby
Arlingtonforuse in the line’s ‘Wealden
Pullman’ dining train–this is expected to
cost around £200,000. It willreplaceRU
No. 1955, which is in needover overhaul
and updating.‘Bubble car’ returns to Swanage
Clas s33No. D6515 (33012) hauls Class 121 No. 55028awayfrom Bournemouth on
July24, whileworking fromEastleighWorkstot he SwanageRailway. The DMUvehicle
will be usedonthe heritagerailway’s main line shuttle fromWareham.NeilWalklingTHE long-awaited introduction of
regula rSwanageRailway services to
and from Wareham tookastep forward
on Ju ly 24, when the first of the line’s
DMUs that will be used on these
workings,Class 121 ‘BubbleCar’
No. 55028,wasreleased fromEastleigh
Works. Itwascollectedby No.D6515
(33012)Lt JennyLewis RN,which had
run light engine fromSwanageearlier
in the day.
The DMU will undergo testing
and commissioning beforecrew
traini ng begins. Interim maintenance
facilitiesforthe line’s DMUs arebeing
constructedbyCorfe Castle station
untilarrangementsforalong-term
leaseof sidin gs atFurzebrook have
beenconcludedwith Pere nco and
Dorset Council.
Still to be completed is the three-
carClass 117 set (made up of Nos.
51356+59486+51388), which is at
EastleighWorks. Theoverhaul and main
linecertification of allfour vehicles
has taken much longer thanexpected
duetothe number of issues, including
dela ys in the delivery of wheelsets. The
vehicles have beenfittedwith TPWS,
OTMR,GSM-R and central door locking
toenable them to be used on the
main line.
The SwanageRailway is still
hoping it can begin running DMUs on
its services toWareham onalimited
number of days before the end of
the 2019 season, although these
‘CHOPPER’ HIREDBY VINTAGETRAINS:With No. 47773 (D1755) currentlystoppedforatten tion, VintageTrains has
hiredLondon Underground-liveried No. 20142fordiesel support on its charters. It arrived atTyseleywith No. 20007 (which is air-
braked only, so unsuitableforuse withVintageTrains’ vacuum-brakedcoaches) fromWest Ruislip on July3.The Type 1isp ictured
at BentleyHeath (near Solihull) on July27, with an empty stock move from TyseleytoDorridge. ‘Jubilee’ steam loco No. 45596
Bahamasis at the rear.Graham Nuttallwould be operatedby athirdparty
train operating company. Meanwhile
the railway has applied to the Office
of Rail and Road forits ownmainline
passenger licence, and anticipates
being able to runafull 90-daytrial
service in the 2020 season.■Class 117 DMBS No. 51346, which
has been used asaspares donor in the
SwanageDMU refurbishment project,
wascut up atEastleighWorksduring
June. The cab has been acquiredby
The SouthWalesLoco CabPreservation
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