Engineering notes

By Tony Massau

We are now back on working on Mondays but not yet Wednesdays. The side control springs were fitted to the front pony truck plus the radial arm stays soon after last month's notes were published. Attention then turned to the rear pony truck which was placed on to its axleboxes, wheels and springs. No side control springs on this one, swing links instead, which had been fitted some time ago. The radial arm stays were then attached and both pony trucks turned the correct way round ready for fitting under the locomotive. The outstanding jobs are making and fitting dust shields over the axleboxes, shaping and fitting the guard irons in front of the wheels and completing various aspects of lubrication.

Counter boring of the holes in the ends of the slide bars is making good progress.

Further work has been done on the support brackets for the sand ejectors.

Firebox work continues with much drilling and reaming of rivet holes at present.

82XXX in BR Days

By Chris Proudfoot

Ivan Whitehouse has sent me three varied images of the tanks in BR service.

No 1: 82004 is elbowed out of the way by LMS 2P 4-4-0 40634 at Bath Green Park in this photograph taken by Herbert Schambach in 1960, providing an interesting contrast in locomotive types 24 years apart. 82004 entered service in April 1952 at Tyseley, arriving at Bath via Wellington (Salop) at the very end of the 1950's. 40634 was built in 1928 for the S&DJR and was taken into LMS stock in 1930, so spent its whole life on the S&D working local passenger services and piloting more powerful engines on the heavy holiday express trains that ran over this much-missed route.

These 4-4-0's didn't enjoy the best of reputations but were noted for being reliable and for having some of the lowest running costs of any LMS type. They would have been ideally suited to working latter-day steam lines, but alas, all of them went to the wall, the final survivors being withdrawn in the autumn of 1962. There have been one or two proposals to build a new one, but so far nothing has taken off.

I just about remember them in service: the last one I saw in steam was at Llandudno Junction in 1961 (on the way to Bangor on a Whitsuntide excursion from Stockport, pulled incidentally by a very clean Black 5), but most of the others I saw were rusting on various scrap-lines. I must admit that I rather liked them, so I hope you will excuse this digression from the usual narrative!

No 2: The fireman of 82020 is up aloft trimming the coal prior to the engine's next working. The shot was taken at Pwllheli mpd some time in the early 60's. Pwllheli was a sub-shed of Machynlleth and was surprisingly large (four roads, I think). The shed and yard were clearly visible from the main road southwards, and - at least in my day - could usually be relied on to have one or two 82XXX on show. The building is still in situ, albeit now in light industrial use.

No 3: 82040 nose-to-nose with another member of the class, but where is it? The engine was allocated to Bristol (Bath Road) for much of its life, then latterly was at Exmouth Junction. Someone is bound to know - answers, please, to Chris!

If anyone knows who took the shots of 82020 and 82040, can they please let me know so that the photographer can be properly credited.

82045 and Friend

No problem about identifying the provenance - or location - of this pic of 82045 and LMS Mogul 42968. Our friend and supporter Jim Norman of the Stanier Mogul Fund, took it in Bridgnorth shed earlier this month. Jim tells me that the General Manager told the Stanier Mogul Fund the SVR wants 42968 (it will be outshopped carrying its original number 13268) in service for the 2022 season, so let's hope that proves correct. We will have to wait a bit longer for 82045, but, all being well, first steaming shouldn't be too far away now. Best guess - covid variants permitting - is 2023, probably the second half of the year.

Thanks Jim!