GWSR... GWR 2-8-0 stronghold.

I was always told the GWR worked to thous. It’s starting to look like it’s a myth.

 

I'm talking about the accuracy of my drawings, not the GWR's !

 

Last Thursday (19 March) 2807's boiler was lifted from the frames and dispatched to Riley's for overhaul. The rest of the loco remains at Toddington where work was expected to continue. However, given the current Coronavirus outbreak and the age range of our volunteers, great care will now be needed when and if undertaking any restoration work on the frames etc. At least we were able to get the boiler away for its overhaul. I was hoping to visit to see progress for myself during the late May Bank Holiday but that now looks highly unlikely!.

 

Many thanks for these two photos Kinghambranch Great engines these 28XX`s!

 

It's good to see that things are still happening in the steam movement, even if at reduced pace.

 

The overhaul of 2807 at Toddington GWSR is coming on well. On Monday 27 March, the boiler was delivered from Riley & Sons and will be installed back in the frames as soon as possible. Meanwhile work continues on the overhaul of 2807's tender, which has needed a lot of work on the frames in particular, and also some minor work on the hired-in 3500 gallon tender from the South Devon Railway. (This is normally attached to Collett No 3205). Whilst 2807 will probably not be hauling trains at the GWSR's gala in mid-May, we hope that it will look more or less like a complete loco again!

 

A warming fire has been placed in 2807's firebox today . Fingers crossed for a successful test!

 

I've just read a book by George Behrend who was in Italy in 1944. He noticed locos based at Foggia had FGA painted in white on the frames. Locos from Tarranto had TTO on their frames. The Italians had copied GWR practice which suggests pre WW2 introduction by the GWR.

 

That seems to me to be a bit of a leap of faith. Its rather an obvious thing to do, so maybe it was quite independently introduced. And its surely just as likely that a GWR man had spotted a good idea from the Italians as vice versa. Its quite clear from the likes of Holcroft that there were effective channels of communication between European and British railway engineers between the wars.

 

Great to see!!
When is the test?

Updates also here: https://gwr2807.blogspot.com/2023/0...TTZ8uje180jJ_Ui7AdHmZjnoMMKzvPFNXfqsCADU0&m=1

 

The steam test took place on Tuesday by the GWSR loco department and was successful. Another test will take place tomorrow, Thursday, in the presence of the Insurance Inspector. If that goes successfully, then the loco will be prepared for finishing and running in.

 

Fantastic - thanks for the update!

 

I have just been informed that 2807 has passed its 2nd in-frames boiler test with the official inspector present. There are still a number of jobs to complete, not least finishing the cladding and finishing painting the on-loan tender, but 2807 is on its way to service once more! (The photo is not brilliant due to wagons partially obscuring the view-but it's the only one I have at the moment!)

 

That's impressive - 3 1/2 years for an overhaul with a large proportion of that time under Covid restrictions.

 

Wonderful! Can't wait to see her back in action soon!!

 

A few more photos from the steam test here: https://gwr2807.blogspot.com/2023/08/hot-off-press.html

 

That's brill, fingers crossed for 2874 next!

Sure its been answered elsewhere but why the on loan tender (and from where?), what's up with 2807's?

 

2807 is borrowing the Collett 3000 gallon tender from GWR 0-6-0 No 3205 from the South Devon Railway until the locomotive's own tender is ready. 3205 is currently out of traffic. We didn't want to delay our loco entering service due to a problematic tender. 2807's tender (No 2065) was built in 1918 and was one of the oldest at Barry Scrapyard. It wasn't the tender which accompanied 2807 into the scrapyard. It actually had traces of BR lined green paint on it and it's highly likely that it was paired with a "Manor" when it arrived at Barry. Although the tender was restored and ran behind 2807 for a decade, it needed rather more attention than was first thought when it was time for the overhaul. This has included replacing quite a lot of the tender frame structure. The tank isn't too bad in fact.
A note on the Collett 3000 gallon tender: The GWR ceased building 3000-gallon tenders between 1906 and 1940. However, under Collett’s auspices, 50 more were built between 1940 and 1948 under Lot A159. They all had the later design deep frames with wide hornplates and long gussets. They were mostly found on the 2251 class 0-6-0 locomotives and locomotive No 3205 was purchased directly from British Railways with a 3000-gallon tender. Only three Collett 3000-gallon tenders survived into preservation. I have photos of 2807's tender replacement metalwork somewhere but can't find them, sorry!

 

I found a couple of images of 2807's tender frames taken in January. The photos show work underway on the left hand frames. Quite a lot of the steelwork body of both frames consists of new metal. Work paused on the tender temporarily in order to complete the overhaul of the locomotive and to prepare the Collett 3000 gallon tender for service.

 

3850 should be next out the traps? I think maybe another year was my understanding after speaking to the guys at this years Spring Gala.

Their boiler was in to Rileys after 2807's. Bottom half must be nearly done?