34039 Boscastle WC class

A bit better than this I hope .Near Leicester November 1999.

 

We all have locomotives like that, 46443 at the SVR always seemed to be out and about whenever I was around. DRS’s 57002 on the Mainline seems to follow me wherever I am!

 

Stalked by a zombie 47?

Bodmin and Brian Fisk on the MHR, EoM on the Ffestiniog, Helen Turner on the NYMR, Gordon on the SVR, Loch and Kissack on the IoM, Edward Thomas on the TR. Used to change trains to try to avoid them or ride behind something else, but now...

 

Yes! Last November on the way home from work, at 0100 at Cambridge North I saw the lights for the level crossing go so thought I’d see what was coming 68017 at the front and 57002 on the back.

 

A good memory to have! And I'm sure he'd be happy to know you have it...

Noel

 

Boscastle's tender now has a coat of paint which will provide a degree of protection whilst it is still outside.

Meanwhile the new front frame sections have been welded in place and the holes drilled and reamed ready to fit the new drag box.

 

The front drag box is now rivetted onto the tender frames and the staying of the boiler (at another site) is proceeding at a steady pace.

 

There is to be an "On-line" Zoom talk/interview about "Boscastle" on the 7th Feb. Details on GCR website in the Reunification section. Proceeds split between that and the loco rebuilding.

 

Re the dragbox
Here is a screenshot of the engineering CAD file which was used for it's fabrication.

 

I have been sent a couple of pictures showing the welding of the front of the tender frame and the new dragbox, fixed in position and painted.

 

A quick reminder about the Boscastle Zoom talk on Sunday.

 

The Boscastle "Zoom" talk went very well yesterday. There were about 90 participants and over £2000 was raised to share between Boscastle and the GCR Reunification project.
The early pictures at Loughborough were very evocative and showed clearly the early restoration conditions! The latest pictures showed how much has been done on the boiler and the progress of stay installation.
Obviously, due to Covid and volunteer restrictions, progress has slowed, but completion in 2022 is not impossible. However, 2023 is, of course, the 50th anniversary of its arrival on the GCR and 30th anniversary of its first return to traffic.......

 

It is good to see that the Boscastle website has been revamped with easier navigation and improved access on smartphones etc. The content has also been updated and the latest pictures show clearly how much work is going into this overhaul.

 

Indeed Phil, a much better look and it's great that there is finally some more up to date news. The website previously gave the impressions that the project had stalled as there were no updates of any kind. Here is the link for those who may wish to take a look: https://www.boscastleloco.co.uk/ The overhaul certainly seems to be very extensive and should result in a Rolls-Royce machine in a few years.

 

Thanks for posting the link Keith. Hopefully completion will be within a couple of years as the coincidence of anniversaries (1973 arrival at GCR, 1993 first steaming in preservation, 2023.....) must be too good to miss!

 

The Boscastle website has had another update with news of work done on the tender frames and axleboxes. There are also details of the boiler re-staying progress. There is a link on post #114.

 

Looking through some old pictures and found this from Feb 2010. This overhaul really did go right back to the bare frame!

 

Here is a 2010 picture of one of the white metalled main bearings.

 

Moving forward, the slide bars were installed in 2011.

 

I have found an even earlier view (Dec 03) of the locomotive when it was being stripped down for this overhaul

- the cab paintwork looks very tired!