Deck the |
...plenty of time for sausages & bacon, Matt making good use of the shovel here... |
...and here in the more conventional manner. |
Crossing 35006 at Gotherington |
It was quite sunny some of the time... |
...quite a pleasant day in fact. |
Coaling up at the end of the day |
I was back again on Boxing Day as a relief fireman for the last trip of the day on Dinmore Manor. The Santa specials were over now, we had progressed on to Mince Pie specials, running to the usual red timetable
John was my driver again |
Most welcome |
All too soon, we were back at Toddington and putting Dinmore Manor to bed again. Not everybody enjoys firing in the dark, but I find it to quite be an interesting challenge.
Waiting at the bracket at Toddington |
Waiting to be coaled up again |
The price of freedom is having your photo taken of course! |
9466 trundled by |
It was on unusual traction for me though... where do you put the coal? |
First yard lamp (photo courtesy of Jo Roesen) |
Second yard lamp (photo courtesy of Jo Roesen) |
Moving on to the 28th, which was a Saturday. Saturdays are usually quite busy at Toddington, however I suspect that one or two may have overdone the festivities as it was fairly quiet. I finally got round to finishing off stripping paint off of a couple of lifting links, one lifting link bracket and a hanging link from 3850. Into the bargain I cleaned out all the oil pots and blew the oilways through with an air line to make sure that there were no obstructions.
Blowing through an oilway |
A selection of 3850's motion parts, freshly de-painted |
There are a few loco restoration projects that grabbed my attention over the years for one reason or another, frequent family holidays in North Cornwall ensured that 34007 Wadebridge being restored only a few miles away from the town it was named after at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway was one such. 6023, King Edward II which I remember as a school boy seeing parked in the fish dock at Bristol Temple Meads for a while was one too. I have been fortunate enough to have fired both of these after their return to steam at the GWSR. Another restoration project that grabbed my attention more than most was 2807 and checking up on its progress whenever I visited was a must. It was something of a privilege therefore to be rostered on her for her last day in traffic during her current boiler ticket on New Year's Day. To tell the exact truth, I was originally rostered down as crew 3 on New Year's Day, taking over 9466 at lunchtime. I proposed a switch with Jonathan who was the crew 2 fireman (on 2807). Jonathan decided that my offer to let him fire 9466 in my stead (which he had yet to have a turn on) with its nice fully enclosed and warm cab would be the ideal turn for him on a doubtless cold, wet & miserable winter's day. In the end, it was dry (admittedly overcast), not too cold, and 9466 failed so he didn't get a go on it in the end anyway. He did benefit from an extra few hours in bed, not having to sign on anywhere near as early as me, so I don't feel too guilty.
Condensation in the wood store meant that the prep crew had a bit of a struggle getting 2807 lit up in the morning, but she was still ready to go on time.
2807, coming round for the last time |
Driver for the day was Chris... he brought all the ingredients for bacon butties on the shovel |
Ian doing the honours with his camera |
The star of the show |
The perils of not proof reading are well known to me as well |
Crossing Dinmore Manor at Toddington |
Most welcome, yet again. |
Ten extremely successful years done, 2807 relaxes at the end of the day |
- No. 2807 is the oldest remaining Churchward standard locomotive.
- No. 2807 is the oldest remaining British 2-8-0.
- No. 2807 was the first steam locomotive to arrive at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.
- No. 2807 is the oldest survivor of the 2800 class.
- No. 2807 is the oldest locomotive built by the Great Western Railway and now owned privately.
- No. 2807 is the oldest locomotive to have been saved from Woodham Brothers scrapyard at Barry.
Steam
locomotive No. 2807 was built by the G.W.R. at Swindon and completed in October
1905, as part of the initial batch of the G.W.R. 2800 class of 2-8-0 heavy
freight engines.
The
2800 class was designed during the period when Churchward was Chief Mechanical
Engineer of the G.W.R. Under his stewardship, nine highly successful locomotive
types, with maximum component standardisation, were introduced. Boilers,
cylinders, pistons, wheels etc. were standardised and interchangeable between
classes. Churchward's design practices were ahead of their time. They were
adopted by Chief Mechanical Engineers of other railways and were still in use
as late as 1947.
On
26 February 1906, identical sister locomotive No. 2808 hauled a record-breaking
train from Swindon to Acton. The trainload of coal was made up of 20 twenty
ton, 6 twelve ton, 78 ten ton, 2 nine ton and 1 eight ton capacity coal wagons.
Assembled at Swindon, the whole train totalled 2012 tons, including the
dynamometer car and brake van. This record by a production locomotive stood
during the whole steam era, surpassed only by the one-off prototype G.W.R.
locomotive The Great Bear which
hauled 2375 tons in 1909.
Following
early shed allocations to Westbourne Park and Old Oak Common in the Paddington
area, in 1911 No. 2807 embarked upon eight years of coal traffic in South
Wales, operating first from Aberdare and later Pontypool Road.
After the First World war, No. 2807 moved to Bristol and
later, in 1924 to Tyseley, from where she is believed to have frequently
visited the Stratford - Cheltenham main line, passing through Broadway,
Toddington and Winchcombe. Subsequent pre-nationalisation shed allocations
included Newton Abbot, Bristol St Philips Marsh, Llanelli, Wolverhampton
Stafford Road, Cardiff (Canton) and Hereford.
A later photo, outside steam pipes, curved front end and the top lamp bracket is now on the smokebox door. The smokebox number plate says this is in the BR (post 1948) era. |
After she moved to Worcester in 1951, No. 2807 once again
became a frequent visitor to the Stratford - Cheltenham main line. After brief
postings to Chester, Newport (Ebbw Junction) and Newton Abbott, No. 2807 moved
to her final allocation, Severn Tunnel Junction, in April 1960.
2807 at Barry, the cladding has come adrift revealing |
1981
|
Saved
from Barry scrapyard
|
|
|
1982
|
Dismantling
begins
|
|
|
|
Chassis
and wheels moved to Tyseley
|
|
Tender
tank moved to Brierley Hill
|
|
|
1993
|
Chassis
and wheels back to Toddington
|
|
|
1994
|
Tender
tanks back to Toddington
|
|
|
1996
|
Locomotive
re-wheeled
|
|
|
1997
|
Smokebox
and chimney fitted
|
|
|
1999
|
2807
towed to Winchcombe for display
|
|
|
2002
|
Coupling
rods fitted
|
|
|
2005
|
Boiler
fitted for the first time since 1982
|
|
Last
main motion rods fitted
|
|
Boiler
and LHS Cylinder cladding fitted
|
|
|
2006
|
Boiler
moved to Llangollen for repairs
|
|
|
2007
|
Tender
operational and features at Llangollen ‘Steel, Steam and Stars’ Gala with No.
3802
|
|
|
2009
|
Repairs
to boiler structure completed
|
|
Chassis
moved to Llangollen ready for fitment of boiler
|
|
Wheels
removed to fit new tyres
|
|
|
2010
|
Chassis
reassembled and boiler tested
|
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Tender
painted and sent to Llangollen
|
|
Boiler
fitted to chassis, tender connected
|
|
Test
running at Llangollen, loco & tender return to Toddington for service
|
|
|
A boilerless 2807 during restoration at Toddington 16th July 2004... |
...and again 15th May 2005, approaching her centenary |
Getting ready to depart Bishops Lydeard, 19th March 2011... |
...Pulling out of Bishops Lydeard. |
2807 being lit up in the early morning light at Winchcombe |
27th October 2012, 2807 becomes the first steam loco to cross Chicken Curve since the landslip was fixed. |
Exiting Greet tunnel 24th March 2012 |
2807.. well her shadow anyway, 11th May 2013 |
Taking her place in the line up for the "Big 4 Gala", 27th May 2013 |
Crossing Stanway viaduct, 29th December 2013 |
Making Friends with Thomas, 22nd June 2014 |
Doing what she was built for |
2807 on 2nd Jan 2017 |
A lovely blog. Thank you very much for it.
ReplyDeleteLove of steam is a wonderful thing. I have it. You have it. Many more have it ,and there is NO CURE!
ReplyDeleteRegards, Paul.
Thank you for the blog and especially for all the coverage on 2807. As you know, I've been involved with this GWR stalwart since it arrived at Toddington in June 1981 but I'm now limited to producing the 2807 Newsletter from a distance these days! The 2nd photo shows 2807 in BR days leaving Newton Abbot. Hopefully it won't (I know it won't) take 29 years to get 2807 back in service as it did when it first arrived on the GWSR!
ReplyDeletethanks to Ray and Chris for looking after 2807 on her last day steaming , all in Loco dept have done sterling work over many years to send her out looking good and performing so well . Look forward to seeing her back asap .
ReplyDeleteSome great photos Ray , may I have them on attachment please . Best regards john M .
Ray , could you send me these photos to put in my GWSR slide show please ? john M.
DeleteYes, wonderful. Someone did a sterling job on 1st January, distributing donation sheets along the train for 2807, but not just putting them on the table, he gave a "town crier" type backgroud detail and motivation "pep talk". Anyway it persuaded me to send a don'.
ReplyDeleteYou can always get a thrill on a 2-8-0, small wheels, takes off like a rocket.
Powli Wilson
thanks Powli , I was the one going through the Trains each day to spread the Gospel so we hope to have more supporters in 2020 . Your comments on other blogs are always of interest , hope to meet you at the AGM 28/3 at Winchcombe ,
DeleteRegards john Mayell , new 2897 FLA chairman .
woops , this 2897 is catching on ! It's 2807 of course ,that's better , john M.
Delete