The Railway Magazine – August 2019

70 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019

GreatCentral secures

overhaul agreement

for Oliver Cromwell

OLIVERCromwell,the National

Railway Museum’s (NRM) BR

‘Britannia’Pacific,iso ncourse

forareturnto steam afterthe

museum agreed atwo-year

overhaul loan agreementwith

the GreatCentralRailway (GCR)

at Loughborough.

Theagreementruns until

December 31, 2021, and will

see the GCR submitaplanto

overhaul No.70013.

Oncethis has been agreed by

the York museum, the necessary

work to return the‘Brit’to

servicewill be carried outat

Loughborough.

Stripping of the locofor

assessmenthas already begun

with the boiler liftedfromthe

frames in early July ahead of a

move to Tyseley.

Asecond loan agreementwill

then beconfirmedto co verthe

operation of the locomotive.

Oliver Cromwelllast ranon

December 31, 2018 after10

successful years of operation

at the GCR and on the

national network under the

custodianship of the 5305

LocomotiveAssociation.

This custodianship has now

transferredto the GCR, but

5305LA isexpectedtobeheavily

involved in theoverhaul.

Theprecise terms of the

operational loan agreementare

yettobeconfirmed.Whether

this includesafurther spell of

main line use is thereforeunclear

at the time of goingto press.

However, the NRM’s head

curator and assistantdirec tor

AndrewMcLean said:“This

loan agreementisinkeeping

with the aims of theScience

Museumgroup’soperationalrail

vehicle strategy,which reaffi rms

ourcommitmenttor unning

historically significantengines

at heritagerailways andonthe

main line.

“Oliver Cromwellhas enjoyed

averysuccessful period of

operation.

“Itisp opular,well maintained

andoccupiesaunique position

in UKrailwayhistor yfor hauling

the last steam-powered

passenger train on British

Railwaysin1968.

“I amexcited about the

prospectofs eeing it back in

steam.”

These sentimentswereechoed

by the GCR’s managing director

MichaelGough, who said:“We

areveryproud thatNo. 70013

will be stayingat the Great

Central, andlook forwardto

the daywhen it will onceagain

graceour‘metals’.

“The GCR hasatremendous

pedigreeofl ocomotive

restor ation, andwe are

delightedthatthe NRM has

recogn ised this in their selection

of the locomotive’shomeforthe

next fewyears.”

‘Fif teen Guinea Special’starNo. 70013Oliver Cromwellis setforasecon dspell in serviceatt he GreatCentralRailway (GCR). On December

12, 2018, it shatters the silenceatRabbit Bridge on the GCR duringaphoto charter.PETERZABEK

WSRbegins

Taunton

to Bishops

Lydeard

Saturday

shuttles

SATURDAY shuttle trains

linking theWest Somerset

Railway’s (WSR)Bishops

Lydeardstation with

Tauntonbegan operation

on July 27.

Thetrains ar ebeing run

as ajointventurebetween

theWSR and GreatWestern

Railway (GWR), primarily

to attractpeople from the

national network to visit the

railway,but also asaservice

forlocal residents who are

lookingforastress-free

wayofa ccessingTaunton’s

shoppingcentre.

TheWSR hopes the

servicewill also provide

an alternativeway for

visitorsto access its popular

special events,including

the AutumnSteam Gala on

October 5.

Through ticketing

GWR already offers

through tickets from its

staffed stationsto theWSR,

and these arevalid on the

shuttle train or on the No.28

bus betweenTauntonand

BishopsLydeard.Ti ckets

can also be boughtont he

shuttles fromTauntonto

anystation on theWest

SomersetRailway.

“This newregular,

timetabled GWR shuttle

serviceisanexciting

opportunityfor both

railwaysinajointventure,”

said GWR managing director

Mark Hopwood.

“Itisf unded through our

customer andcommunity

improvementfund as a

trial,and we hope that

visitors,enthusiasts and local

residents will use the new

servicesot hatwecan jointly

evaluate its success to see if

thereisabasis forrunning a

serviceinf utureyears.”

Thefirst shuttlewaswaved

off byTauntonMPRebecca

PowonJuly 27, with

further services operating

on August3, 17 and 31,

September7and 21, and

October 5for the steam gala.

NorthYorks Moors

setfor ‘S15’comeback

ESSEXLocomotiveSociety-

owned Southern‘S15’No.825

could be undergoing its

post-overhaul trialsat theNorth

YorkshireMoors Railway by the

time this issue ofTheRMgoes

on sale.

At the time of writingwork

waswell in to the final stages of

the Maunsell 4-6-0’s10-yearly

overhaul.

By the secondweek of July

the petticoatpipe had been

installed in the smokebox, the

cast domecovercladding

fitted,and locomotive

reconnectedtoits tenderforthe

first time sinceAugust 2013.

Thesmokedeflectors were

also fittedat this time,cab

fittings put back on, and the

speedo generatorcalibrated.

Thelocohas been turned out

in afresh coat of Southern Olive

Green, making anattrac tive

pairing with the line’s similarly

liveried‘Schools’4-4-0 No.926

Repton.

The‘S15’had not runat the

NYMR sinceitwas withdrawn

foroverhaul in 2013.This has

been carried outat Grosmont,

with the boileroverhaul

undertakenat theEssex

SouthernRailway pair of‘S15’

No.825 and‘Schools’No. 926

Reptonstandtogetherat

GrosmontMPD on the North

YorkshireMoors Railway on

July 9.LUKE TAYLOR

LocomotiveSociety’sown sitein

Scarborough.

Theboilerpassed its

out-of-fr ames steamtest last

November,and wasreturnedto

theframes earlier thisyear.

Steam&Heritage Track Record

COMPILED BY

GARY

BOYD-HOPE

Call: 01507 529589

email: gboyd-hope

@mortons.co.uk

Yo urreports and

pictures aremostwelcome.

Highlycompetitiverates

arepaid,especially if

exclusivetoTheRM.