The Railway Magazine – August 2019

August2019 •TheRailway Magazine•73

Barrow Hill completes purchaseofMidland‘Half Cab’ No.41708

LMS‘1F’No.41708 in actionat Barrow Hill on July 18, 1998.ROBIN STEWARTSMITH

West Somerset announces

boardrestr ucture... but GM

Conibeare is su spended

THE West Somerset

Railway (WSR)isc arrying

out afull restructureofi ts

managementboardfollowing a

comprehensivebusinessreview

by WSRplc ch airman Jonathan

Jones-Pratt.

Thereviewwaspartof

the WSR’s ongoingrecovery

prog ramme,and included an

external safetyand operational

complianceaudit,afull review

of overheads and staff structure,

and adetailed investigation into

the railway’s finances.

“The focus is nowmoving

from‘turn-around’to‘recovery’,

but forshareholders and

staff we oweittothemto be

transparent,”said Mr Jone s-Pratt.

“The results of thereview

highlightsomecritical business

failures,which have re sulted

in significantfinancial losses

accruingto the plc.The results

forthe 15 monthsto March31,

2019, when published,will

illustrate the extent of the

sharp decline in the financial

condition of thecompany.”

Thefirst step in therestructure

wastaken on June 28 with

removalfromthe boardofthe

line’s general managerPaul

Conibeare, who had been

appointedtothe boardin2018.

Thereason, saidMr Jone s-Pratt,

wasbecause“itwas felt that

the role of general manager is

to run the daily operation and

should bereporting backto the

board, not participating in the

developmentoft he plc strategy.”

However, on July 16, the

railway issuedabrief statement

announcingMr Conibeare

had been suspended from

his post as general manager

until further notice. No details

have beenreleased asto the

reasons behind this decision.

Thestatementwentontosay

thatthe plc’s deputychairman

Mark Smith, whowasthe line’s

managing directorbetween

1988 and 2006, will perform the

role in the interim period.

Therestructurewill continue

with therecruitmentofnew

directors in to the operations,

commercial,engineering,

finance, safet yand compliance,

and permanentway and

infras tructureportfolios.

Initial appointees will join

as in terim advisorsforthree

months,after which the

boardwill seek election of the

successful candidates.

An adviser is already in place

on thecommercial side,while

directors ha ve been approved

forboth engineering and safety

and compliance.

Mr Jones-Prattadded:“The

business must and will be

ready for2020 operations.We

mayneed to takesome further

tough decisions aswe aimto

ensureaprofessional operation

of the WSR in the future.

“I am absolutelycommittedto

seeing this through and ensure

it becomesarailway thatwe

can all be proud of,whetherfor

past,presentorf uturemembers.”

THE loss of on-hireNo. 7802

BradleyManorwith a

damagedcylinder casting

(see separate stor yonp71)

has beentempered somewhat

forthe West SomersetRailway

with thereturn to serviceof

2-6-0 No.9351.

TheGWR-i nspiredMogul

has beenoverhauledover a

six-month periodby the West

SomersetRailway Association

(WSRA) atWilliton, andwas

finallyrolled out of theworks

on July 12 when it transferred

to Minehead shedfortesting.

Thelococarried unlined BR

green with early BR crest on

the tender,and performed

some initial lightengine runs

between Minehead and Blue

Anchor on July 17.

‘Manor’pairing

Thefollowing dayitwas

paired with‘Manor’No. 7822

FoxcoteManorto work twofull

round trips fromMinehead

to BishopsLydeardand back,

notching up 80 miles in the

process,and performing

faultlessly.Asaresult it made

its soloreturn to WSRtraffic

on July 19, the first time it

has workedtrains on itsown

since2013.

TheWSRA, under the

group’s engineering chief

Ryan Pope,willnow return its

atte ntion to theoverhaulof

theassociation’s ‘45XX’2-6-2T

No.4561, which is already

underwayatWilliton.

Thehope isto have the loco

in trafficby 2021.

WEST SOMERSET MOGUL 9351 RETURNSTO

FRONT-LINE SERVICE AFTEROVERHAULAT WILLITON

Back inrevenue-earning service: 2-6-0 No.9351 enters Crowcombe Heathfield station with the

12.40 BishopsLydeard-Minehead serviceonJuly 21.PETER NICHOLSON

FORMERMidlandRailway
‘1F’0-6-0T No.41708 will be
returnedto full workingorder
forthe firsttimesince2003
following itsacquisitionby
the BarrowHill Engine Shed
Society (BHESS).
Thepurchaseof the

1880-built‘HalfCab’for an

undisclosedsum from the1708

LocomotivePreservation Trust

officiallyreunites the loco with

the shed it calledhome from

1947 to 1965.

It also opensthe doorfor

an overhaul,with the BHESS

planningto have No.41708

assessedatthe earliest

opportunity to seewhatis

requiredto return thelocoto

steam.

“Wehave been tryingto bring

this Johnson engine into the

charity forseveralyears,asit

forms an importantchapter

of the Roundhouse story,”said

BHESS chairmanProfessor

Mark Robinson.

“Wehavemade afirm

commitmenttor estore

No.41708, andthis work will

begin withathorough survey

to establish thescaleofthe

challengewe face.

“Wewillbeseekinggrants

and undertaking fundraising

activitiesforthe restor ation

whichweaim to beginby

2020,ayear whichalso marks

the 150th birthday of the

roundhouse.”

Completionofthe loco’s

purchase bringsto aclose

morethan 14years of

negotiations,whichbegan

in 2005when themembers

and directors ofthe 1708

Locomotive Preservation

Trust agreed the locomotive

would be betterservedbya

charitable organisation with

“youth,vigour and adequate

resources”torestoreand

maintain it.

However, thenegotiations

became mired in anownership

disputethatpreve nted any

transfer of the locountil the

ownership issuewasresolved.

With the sale nowcomplete

the 1708Locomotive

Preser vation Trust will be

wound up andits detailed

recordsand archivetransferred

to the BHESS.

Thesignificanceof

No.41708’srelationship

with Barrow Hill cannotbe

overstated. It wasbuiltat

Derbyasone of185 examples

designed by the Midland

Railway’s CMESamuel Johnson.

It owes itslongevity, and

subsequentassociation with

BarrowHill,toan1866 contra ct

forthe Midlandto provide

shunting enginestoStaveley

Iron Worksfor aperiod of 100

years.

By the timeitr eached Barrow

Hill in 1947 therewereonly 72

of the class surviving,which

had reduced further to 11

by 1961.Thelocowas finally

withdrawn in1965, being one

of onlyfivesurvivors,but it was

theonly exampletomakeit

into preservation.

It renewed itsconnections

with BarrowHill in July1998

whenthe rescuedroundhouse

wasreopenedto the public.

It went on to make several

further visits,becoming a

permanentexhibitin 2004

afterithad beenwithdrawn.

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