1014 - County of Glamorgan

oddities yes - Tiny from 1927. Shannon more debatable but I think preservation scraped in before nationalisation.

now, obviously this is an opportunity to debate the extent to which they were GWR locomotives, but less questionable who owned them when they were preserved.

Tiny would be good candidate anyway - was built for another company but there’s a reason she was broad gauge after all!

Re Truro - here we have one link telling the story which ‘everyone knows’ and one quoting from the minutes.

 

Primary source: "Under circumstances which were represented the Committee approved the presentation, after renovation at a cost not exceeding £65, of the engine "City of Truro" (No 3717) and tender to the London and North Eastern Museum at York, on the understanding they would be returned if required in the future."

Unsourced blog post: "The GWR had refused point blank to preserve it."

Given a discrepancy between extracts from the relevant committee minutes, and a blog article written almost a century later that lists no sources, I'm tempted believe the primary source ...

Tom

 

To be fair, when I read the GWR Loco cttee minutes I find it frustrating to know what the "circumstances which were represented" were. There must have been a dialogue beforehand. Scrapping locomotives wasn't a board level decision , that much is clear to me. Giving away what is, after all, a capital asset, on the other hand, must have required board authorisation, and here it is recorded. But the thing about real preservation is that there's more to it than stuffing a locomotive in a headshunt and leaving it to rust. It's got to be housed under cover and its going to need a certain level of maintenance and thus ongoing expenditure, and that's something I think the board would need to approve. No one was really geared up for that, and one must admire and be thankful for the vision of the LNER executives who realised that heritage was going to be a thing and that a museum could be at least self financing, especially as the LNER was particularly cash strapped and didn't need White Elephants. I don't know what the GWS source was, maybe I should ask them.

 

Tiny was built in 1868 for the South Devon Railway. Shannon was built in 1857 for the Sandy and Potton Railway. Neither were built by or for the GWR.

 

Your primary source and blog post refer to different events at different times. The primary would appear to refer to what happened after Collett had persuaded the board to loan CoT to the LNER whilst the blog, as quoted, refers to what had happened before.

Here is another account from here:

https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/3440-city-of-truro-3440-and-3717/

"In 1912 the locomotive was renumbered 3717 and it was eventually withdrawn from service in 1931 (the others of the class being withdrawn between 1927 and 1931). GWR’s Chief Mechanical Engineer Charles Collett asked that the engine be preserved at the London and North Eastern Railway’s Railway Museum at York when it was withdrawn in 1931, after the directors of the GWR had refused to preserve the engine at the company’s expense. It was donated to the LNER, being sent from Swindon on 20 March 1931. It remained on static display there until 1957."

No need to check Jim, everything is correct, I suspect. What you to have to consider is the order of events.

 

Some interesting dates there. Transfer to LNER was formally approved 12th Mar. According to the preservedsteamlocomotive article the locomotive travelled on 20th March, so it seems likely Collett had already had much of the refurbishment work done. He was, of course, acting completely within his powers to have maintenance work done on a locomotive. Obviously there had also been full discussion with the LNER museum about them taking the locomotive, so it's clear the board minute was simply the necessary rubber stamp. I didn't find an earlier locomotive cttee minute discussing the locomotive, so unless it was discussed at full board level it was all agreed off line.
As for friction between board and Collett, all the rest, there are a number of stories about such which don't necessarily stand up to the light of day. Obviously the GWR had no museum or any intention to create one, and whilst space could be found for Tiny at Newton Abbott a complete 4-4-0 tender engine was an entirely different matter. In that context I note that we do have quite a selection of very early and very small locomotives preserved, but the next and considerably larger generation is much more poorly represented.

 

The naming of the Dukedogs perhaps?

 

Which is why I posted what I posted….

 

Morning everyone,

I've received this by email today.

"
Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding 1014 County of Glamorgan.

I am pleased to say that the County team at Didcot are doing quite well getting all the back head fittings and pipework fitted and I hope that we may be able to get the boiler during the summer

In that regard, we recently had a meeting with the boiler shop (HBSS) to discuss the remaining work which needs to be undertaken as well as costs and timescales. We have now ordered the new main copper steam pipe and also the new regulator rod as part of a number of items which will be required for the final push to complete the boiler overhaul. That leaves the steam collector which the boilersmiths have said they can fabricate when they get the boiler back. In the meantime, the connector between the collector and main steam pipe has just been completed.

Unfortunately, the firebox needs a new throatplate and as there is a long lead time for delivery of 4/5 months, we decided to order this for spring delivery as it will be one of the first things to be tackled by HBSS and we have also ordered the super heater elements which can take up to 12 months to be sourced as it is quite a convoluted manufacturing process. This will be followed by the one other long lead time item – the large flue tubes which usually take 6/9 months to procure which we will tackle before the boiler goes away."