July10 wasthefirst dayintrafficforne wBagnallre plica2-4-0T
BrownBear,seenat SeaLionRocksstati on.RICHARDBOOTH/GGRGroudleGleninWestSuss ex:PolarBear,oneoftheoriginaltwo Bagnallsfromthe
line,andonwhichBrownBearinlargelybased,haulsarakeofex-GroudleGlen
coachesonJuly13,duringAmberleyMuseum’sgalaweekend.ALISTAIRGRIEVE
BrownBearstandsinsteamalong sidemucholdersister2-4-0TSeaLionat Lh en
CoanonJuly14.RICHARDBOOTH/GGRBearingup: theBritish Isles’
newest steamlocomotive
ByRobin JonesTHE lates tnew-buildsteamlocomotive
in theBritish Isleshas hauled its first
public train ontheIsle of Man’sGroudle
Glen Railway (GGR).
Unableto faci lita te the permanent
returnofthe 2ftgauge line’s original
Bagnall 2-4-0T No.1781of1 905
PolarBearwhich is nowpartofthe
AmberleyMuseum fleet inWest
Sussex,volunteers decidedto build
theirown, to sit alongside its older
twin, No.1484of1 896 SeaLion.
Continuing the theme of naming
locomotives afterthe animals that
onceinhabited theVictorianzoo
at the railway’s SeaLion Rocks
terminus,itw as decided thatthe
new locomotivewas to be named
BrownBear.
Buoyedbythe 1998 success of
replica 0-4-2TAnnie,the projectto
buildBrownBearbegan in 2012,
using genuine Bagnall drawings and
help withresearch fromAmberley.
Theframes werecut at the Isle
of ManSteam Packet Company
workshops in January2013, marking
the formal startoft he project. The
casting patterns heldforAnnie’s
wheelswerealso correctforBrown
Bearand theresultantcastingswere
machined and pressed onto new
axlesat the Railway Preser vation of
Ireland’s headquarters at Whitehead.
From the outset,itwas intended
thatthe locomotivewould be an
accuratereplic arather thanageneric
lookalike,acourse which increased
costs and time.
Eachcomponentwas sele cted,
drawings reviewed,checkedto
the originalby emailand then sub
contra cted forproduction, adding
to the kitofparts ,piecebypiece,
until all the maincomponentswere
to hand,storedonthe frames in the
GGR engine shedat LhenCoen.
TheBritish Engineering approveddrawing wasamendedto suit the
factthatthe fireboxonPolarBearis
3in longer than thatonSea Lion,and
it wasdecided thatthe backhead
would be flanged andrivetedsothat
the visible parts not under cladding
would look original.The hidden parts
areall-welde d, but the endresult
is visually superband the boiler is
free steaming.
With limited manpoweratt he
GGR,extraworkcausedby two
unexpectedfireboxreplacements
and other factors ledto adiscussion
at the Talyllyn Railway’s Tywyn
Wharfstation with Jack Dibnah
and his employers JohnFowler
Engineering ofBouth, Cumbria,
regarding assembly of thekitand
commissioning of the locomotive.
Accordingly,January2018saw
the assembledcollection of
parts deliveredto Bouth and the
completed locomotivewas delivered
to the GGR onMonday, July 8,hauling its first public traintwo
days later.
BrownBearis the second new-build
locomotivetomake its appearance
on the line thisyear,following the
deliveryofreplica Bagnall Sipat
0-4-0STOtterwhich had been
builtby North BayEngineering of
Scarbo rough and nowDarlington.
North Baywas undertaking
contra ct jobs forthe GGR, including
reassembly ofSeaLionafterfirebox
work andofferedOtterto the line
on attractiveterms .Its officials
jumpedat asomewhatunexpected
opportunity.BrownBearandOtter
werescheduledto be officially
launchedat the line’s July28gala
day, part of the Isle ofManHerit age
TransportFestival
Theaddition oftwonewcomers
to the fleet will allowAnnieto be
stoppedformuch-neededattention
after20years,but it isexpectedto
makeaspeedyreturn.NEWS