Vintage loco comes to the rescue after popular Snowdonia path washed away by floods

 

Vintage loco comes to the rescue after popular Snowdonia path washed away by floods

Another welcome return to this blog for one of my favourite sort of happenings - the "vintage machinery comes to the rescue" story.  We have seen it before, mainly with steam traction engines and road rollers but sometimes with steam trains and here is another instance of the latter.

On this occasion the engine in question is Lilla, a feisty mid-sized 0-4-0 quarry locomotive originally built in 1891 for hauling slate from the Nantile Valley near Gwynedd in North Wales.  This she continued to do for the next sixty-four years, moving a few miles northeast to the Penrhyn quarry at Bethesda in 1928, before finally being retired in 1955 following a failed boiler test.  Purchased by a private individual in 1963 Lilla spent the following 9 years undergoing restoration before returning to the heritage railway network in 1972.  Moving around the country she finally found herself in her current home at the Ffestiniog & West Highland Railway in 1993 where she has been well cared-for over the intervening three decades.  This has included numerous overhauls and replacement of worn parts, with a brand new boiler being fitted in 2004. 

source - Wikimedia Commons/Hefin Owen

It is no doubt this high level of preservation that allowed Lilla to step up and come to the aid of the National Trust when recent flooding caused part of a nearby tourist trail to be washed away.  Already a common sight on the F&WHR line pulling everything from quarry wagons to carriages full of children, Lilla seemed the obvious choice to haul the 30 tons of aggregate needed to repair the damaged path and I am delighted to see that she performed the task as though she'd never been away, proving once again how - provided they are maintained in good condition - vintage machines can still fulfil their original purpose.  Kudos must also go to the National Trust Cymru for approaching the F&WHR with the idea of using Lilla to help out - the sort of thinking one is glad to see in a heritage (or indeed any) organisation and one which I hope we will continue to see more of, as people realise that machines like Lilla still have a lot left to give.

Flying Scotsman: Famous engine back on tracks

Flying Scotsman: Famous engine back on tracks

It's not very often that we're prepared to wait ten years for a train to arrive, but when that train is pulled by a world-famous record-breaking steam locomotive then it becomes another matter entirely!

Yes, this is the welcome news of the much-anticipated return of the LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman steam engine to mainline passenger-carrying service following a ten-year, £4.2 million restoration.

Such rebuilds (and new builds) are always gratifying but in the case of the Scotsman there is an extra level of excitement at its return, due no doubt to the way it has captured the nation's imagination ever since its unveiling in 1924 at the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley, London.  In the intervening 92 years it has cemented its reputation as one of the most well-known steam engines in the world and is rightly celebrated as an ultimate example of British engineering at its best.  Having been the first locomotive to travel non-stop from London to Edinburgh in 1928 (hauling the service from which it took its name) and the first to break the 100mph barrier in 1934 the Scotsman earned a place in our island story from almost the beginning of its career.

It was this fame and affection that saved it from the scrapheap in 1963 when it was bought by businessman and railway enthusiast Alan Pegler, restored at Doncaster and then sent on an international tour to the United States and Australia.  Subsequent owners William McAlpine and Tony Marchington did their bit to keep the Scotsman in steam and in the hearts and minds of people around the world until 2004 when it was finally acquired by the National Railway Museum in York.

source

Complete restoration followed in 2006 with the aim of returning Scotsman to as near original condition as possible and at the same time renewing its boiler certification, but unforeseen problems pushed the initial 2010 completion date back to late 2015.  Complete with a new boiler - the only original A3 Class boiler in existence, in fact, replacing the later A4 Class type that Scotsman had used since an early 1980s refit - the famous engine finally moved under its own power for the first time in ten years for test runs on the East Lancashire Railway on the 8th January.

In Pictures: Flying Scotsman returns to tracks for tests

Barring a few small issues with the brakes these tests have been largely successful and the Flying Scotsman is due to make its triumphant return to the main line in early February on an inaugural run from  London to York, following a spiffing new British Rail green paint job.  Understandably tickets for these initial runs have all been snapped up within hours of going on sale but there will of course be the chance to see the Scotsman in all its glory at the NRM and hopefully any later London runs will not be booked up.  With any luck she may even embark on another national tour - either way it would certainly be something to travel on such an historic train.  Here's hoping, and in the meantime a hearty "welcome back!" to this much-loved engine.

Tata Steel wins nostalgic order for steam loco No 2007 Prince of Wales

Tata Steel wins nostalgic order for steam loco No 2007 Prince of Wales 

As I'm so excited about this particular news item I can't leave you - or me! - in suspense any more; here's that first promised post.  This news is hot off the press today!

Some readers will doubtless be aware of Tornado (or to give it its full designation, LNER Peppercorn Class A1 60163 Tornado), which in 2008 became the first new-build steam locomotive to be constructed in this country since 1960 and the only existing example of its type.  It has appeared on this blog several times before (in news items here, here and here) and in the intervening 6 years has become a roaring success - breaking records, making innumerable heritage railway & mainline appearances (where it is allowed to travel at speeds commensurate with modern trains) and generally winning the hearts of all who see it.

So successful has Tornado been, in both construction and service, that the people responsible for creating it - the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, based at Darlington Locomotive Works - began seriously contemplating the building of another engine.  Now I'm delighted to see that - under the name P2 Steam Locomotive Company - they're going "full steam ahead" with their plan to construct a Gresley Class P2 locomotive, to be named 2007 Prince Of Wales in honour of HRH's 65th birthday.

Gresley Class P2 2001 Cock O' the North, c.1934source

Like Tornado's original Peppercorn Class none of the Gresley P2s (which numbered six) have survived, meaning that the Prince Of Wales will again be the sole example when it is completed (although it takes the 2007 number in deference to the original six).  The P2s, designed by famous railway engineer Sir Nigel Gresley, were the most powerful engines in the country when they were introduced in 1934.  Built to be able to pull over 600 tons of railway carriages on the London-Aberdeen route they, like so many locomotives from the early '30s, were soon eclipsed by the more glamorous A1s (Mallard et al).  Sidelined by the Second World War they were extensively rebuilt between 1943-44 and eventually scrapped in the switch to electrification during the Sixties.

Thanks to modern computing and design technologies, as used and refined in the building of Tornado, the construction of the Prince Of Wales should go ahead well - provided the funds can continue to be found (see here and here, or e-mail enquiries@p2steam.com to find out how to contribute).  This latest news shows that work is already underway at the Tata Steel Scunthorpe facility to create the engine frames, with many more parts set to be produced by this valued partner.  It is also fortunate (although doubtless intentional) that P2s shared around 70% of their design with A1s, so the majority of parts will be easily replicated with the equipment to do so now very much in place.  Even so, the project is estimated to take 7 years - still a vast improvement on the 14 years it took to bring Tornado to fruition.  As much as I hardly can, I'm sure it will be well worth the wait nonetheless.  One of the most powerful express locomotives ever once again running full chat along our national rail network?  And maybe yet more new steam engines after that?  Yes please with knobs on! 

Mallard anniversary: Steam locomotive Bittern marks record run

Mallard anniversary: Steam locomotive Bittern marks record run

This coming Wednesday, the 3rd of July, sees the 75th anniversary of a landmark event in steam locomotion - the world record-breaking 126mph run of the streamlined A4 Pacific steam locomotive Mallard.  On that date in 1938 this beautiful engine left London Kings Cross for Grantham in Lincolnshire, without fanfare, ostensibly for a braking test run.  However during the return journey, on a section of track just south of Grantham, Mallard topped out at a remarkable 126 miles per hour (203kph).  No other steam-powered locomotive has exceeded that speed since and so to this very day Mallard still holds the World Speed Record for steam.  Alas, although it has since been restored and has pride of place at the National Railway Museum in York, it can no longer move under its own power.



However, to commemorate this long-standing achievement, one of Mallard's sister engines - Bittern - was yesterday permitted to exceed the usual 75mph limit for steam trains on a British main line while undertaking a special London-York jaunt, "The Ebor Streak".  Its highest speed was recorded at 92.8mph (149kph), allowing the passengers (and the rest of us, thanks to footage of the event) the chance to experience high speed steam travel - even if it was still 30mph slower than that day three-quarters of a century ago.  Gad, wouldn't I like to have been on that train all the same!



Mallard steam locomotive to return to Grantham

This special run is just one of a series of events planned to commemorate Mallard's record, with further derestricted journeys by Bittern on the 19th ("The Tyne-Tees Streak) and 27th ("The Capital Streak") of July.  The highlight of the celebrations (if 90 mile-an-hour steam trains aren't highlight enough for you!) will be the gathering at the NRM in York of the six surviving A4 Pacific engines (from the original 35) - Mallard, Bittern, Sir Nigel Gresley, Union of South Africa, Dominion of Canada and Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first time all of them will have been seen together!  (Four of them can be seen here in this film from 2008).  Dominion of Canada and Dwight D. Eisenhower have even been specially shipped over from the Canadian Railway Museum in Montreal and the National Railroad Museum in Wisconsin, respectively, to be restored and take part in it all!

Much work has been done to make the marking of this anniversary a rightly special one and the list of events looks truly spectacular.  I'll look forward to seeing more footage of the high speed runs and the six A4s over the next month or so and will maybe feature them on here again (if I can overcome the disappointment of not being there in person!).  All in all, some stunning celebrations for a truly stunning piece of British engineering.