MHR has Heritage Lottery Fund award for Wheeldrop Shed

The Mid Hants Railway, ‘The Watercress Line’, will be able to bring into operation an historic piece of engineering equipment from the great age of steam thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

The grant of £50,000 will ensure that the wheel drop shed is brought into proper operation, greatly assisting in the maintenance of steam engines, and improving the facilities where coaches and engines are re-painted. The project also includes facilities to enable visitors to view how the equipment works by way of video recordings that will be replayed in part of the newly restored station house at Ropley. The railway hopes to complete the project by the middle of 2006.

The current facilities are inadequate for the scope of repair work now required to keep the railway’s rolling stock, much of which is 50 or more years old, in operation. The wheel drop, which was recovered from Bricklayer’s Arms engine shed in SE London over 20 years ago, enables the large driving wheels of steam engines to be removed quickly in order to replace broken springs or to re-metal axle bearings. The new paint shop will allow engines and coaches to be painted in clean conditions, whereas at present this work has to be done in the existing works where dust from other maintenance activities can easily damage wet paint.

The wheel drop is one of only two or three known to survive in the UK and the only one in the south of England, and once it is fully in operation it will be available to other steam engine owners to effect repairs. The railway will also be better equipped to carry out contract work for other railways.

The new display equipment in the station master’s house at Ropley, will use a 1950’s period TV set housing a modern TV & DVD player. This will enable the railway to show visitors how the wheel drop (and other workshop equipment) is used in repairing steam engines, an activity that they cannot normally see due to health & safety restrictions on access to workshop equipment. School groups will be able to view the same recordings using a projector TV system in the same part of the house.

This is the second grant awarded by the HLF to the Watercress Line. The Old Goods Shed at Alresford was restored with the aid of a substantial grant and re-opened 5 years ago.

David Snow, the director of the Watercress Line who has co-ordinated the project so far said ‘We are extremely grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for making this award. Our railway has laboured for many years with workshop facilities that have been inadequate for the tasks required to keep the fleet of engines and coaches active. Despite these limitations, good progress has been made over the last 5 years but these new facilities will be of considerable benefit to us. I should like to thank the staff and volunteers of the railway who have contributed to the development of this project so far; and thanks are also due to Professor Iain McLean (a volunteer on the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway) who was of great help by giving us the benefit of his experience in preparing applications to the HLF.’

SOURCE WATERCRESS LINE WEBSITE