Rail Express – September 2019

74 RAIL EXPRESS September 2019

PRESERVATION David Russell

Second French ‘Chopper’ scrapped

Remains ofex-CFD Class 20 aredisposed of at Kingsbury.

JULYsaw the disposal of No. 20035, one
of thefour Class 20s thatretur ned from
France in 2005,at EMR at Kingsbury.
Located at the Gloucestershire-
WarwickshireRailway since 2016, the
loco had beengradual ly stripped of
componentsoverthe past threeyears
toprovide sparesfor classmates
Nos. D8137 (20137) and 20228.
No. 20035ist he second of
the former CFD ‘Choppers’–which
were boughtbyaconsortiumof
pres ervationists–togofor scrap. To

date,onlyone hasbeen returnedto

action,No.20228at the BarryIsland

Railway, although this has since been

stopped and is nownearing the end of

an overhaul. No. 20063 isalso being

restored at the Battlefield Line, having

spentseveral years in store,initially at

Wishaw(Warwic kshire) and then at the

ColneValleyRailway (Essex).

■Another Class 20 on the move in

recent weeksisthe Somerset&Dorset

Locomotive Company’s No.D8059

(20059), whichwasleft the Midland

BR No.CFD No. Current location/Status

20035 2001 Disposed of at EMR, Kingsbury in 2019

20063 2002 Battlefield Line, underrestoration

20139 2003 Disposed of at EMR, Kingsbury in 2010

20228 2004 BarryTourist Railway,under overhaul

REPATRIATED FRENCH CLASS 20S

Railway-Butterleyfor th eMid-Hants

RailwayonJuly25. It is the loco’s

sec ond appearance attheMHR,

having previouslyvisitedforthe line’s

dieselgalain2018. With No. 50027

Lioncurrentlyout of action, theonly

oper ational diesel (excludin gshunters)

on th eline wasNo. 47579James

Nightall GC,whichisd ue toreturn to its

MangappsRailway Museum baseforits

anniversarygala in late August(see also

diesel diary).E

DIESEL DIARY

Mangapps celebrates 30years

THE 30thanniversary of the opening

of MangappsRailway Museum is

bein gcelebrated overthe August

BankHolidayweekend.Class 04

No. D2325, whichworked thefirst

trainat Mangappsin 1989,isg aini ng

anew coat of BRgreenfor the

event, whichshould also seeNos.

03089/197/399, 31105/233, 33202

DennisGRobinsonand47579James

Nightall GCin action.

The SouthEast Locomotive

Group’sNo. 33063RJMitchellis to

visi tthe DeanForest Railway forits

gala in September.Another Sulzer,

No. D7535 (25185)is to appearat

theLlangollenRailway at theend

of September,providingthefirst

opportunity to ride behindaClass 25

on thelinesince thedeparture of

No. 25313in2009.

‘Clayton’ No. D8568is to pa yits

first visittot he NeneValleyRailway

in October, operatingalongside

Nos. D4 (44004)GreatGableand

55019 RoyalHighlandFusilieras well

as resident lo cos.

■Lookingaheadto2020,owingto

thechang eofdateofthe early

MayBank Holiday(which is onFriday

May8,rathe rthanthe usualMonday,

to mark the75th anniversary of

VE day),theSwanage Railway has

broughtforwardits dieselgala from

itstraditional slottot akeplaceon

April24-26.

Diesel Galas

August 24-26:Mangapps

Railway Museum(Sun &Mon also

include steam)

September 6-8:Great CentralRailway

September 7/8:HeritageShunters

Trust

September 13-15:DeanForest

Railway

September 14/15:Epping Ongar

Railway

September 14/15:GCR( N),

Ruddington

September 21:East Lancashire

Railway (Type 1-3 theme day)

September 28/29:LlangollenRailway

October 3-5:Severn Valley Railway

(home fleet)

October 11-13:NeneValley Railway

October 12:Downpatrick &Co. Down

Railway (ITG30th Anniversary)

October 12/13:Gloucestershire

WarwickshireRailway

October 18/19:Spa Valley Railway

November 9:East Lancashire Railway

(DMU day)

December 28:Bo’ness&Kinneil

Railway

G-WR ‘HOOVER’

FIRST:Class 50

No. 50035ArkRoyal

arrives at Cheltenham

Racecourse onJuly 26,

believedtobethe first

time ever a‘Hoover’ has

worked overthe li ne.

Befor ebecoming today’s

heritage line, thefull

routefromStrat ford-

upon-Avon to Cheltenham

onlysaw irregulartraffic

in its finalBritishRail

days,byt he timeClass

50shad been transferred

in to theWester nRegion

from theLondonMidl and.

Gary Thomas

CLASS 50 PROGRESS:Replatingofrotten bodywork on the cabsides of

No. 50030RepulsebeganatRowsleyduring July. Apowerunit lift is planned to take

place later thisyear.The loco is pictured atRowsleyonJuly21.Coli nPottle

FOUR of the LNER Coach Association’s

vehicles areset to depart the North

YorkshireMoors Railway temporarily

while the line’s carriageshed, due to

be completedby 2021, is constructed

at Pickering.

The ‘long siding’, as it is known,

needs to be cleared to enable

groundworkstobecarried out.

Four coaches (ThirdOpenNo. 945,

Composite Corridor No. 18477, Third

Corridor No. 23896 andTourist Third

Open No. 24109) arebeing movedto

aprivate site at Spennymoor (County

Durham)forundercoverstorage, and

will return to theNYMRindue course.

IN BRIEF

‘WENSLEYDALE’ BUBBLE

BACK INACTION

THE Wensleydale Railway’s Class 121

DMBS No. 55032has returnedtot raffic,

negating theneedfor theline to operate

loco-hauled services onallrunning days.

Howeve r, some diesel operatingdaysare

taking place, and No. 37250ise xpected

to operatetwo round trips onAugust 24.

MANGAPPSACQUIRES

GRESLEY BCK

MANGAPPSRailway Museum has

purchasedaGresleyBrake Corridor

Composite (BCK) No. 4229, previously

based at the LlangollenRailway.

Stored Gresleys to leave NYMR