Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 was pictured in the South Yard at Williton on Saturday 29th April 2023, with Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 alongside but on slightly higher ground. Luckily, the weather was good for three of the four days of the ‘Spring Steam Spectacular’ event (28th April – 1st May). Photo by Josh Brinsford © CC BY-NC 3.0
The BLUE timetable applies throughout May, featuring diesel haulage each weekend, initially with Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 and later with Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017. For details of planned DIESEL-HAULED public services, see the DIESEL RUNNING DATES page on our website.
LOCO NEWS:
Class 52 D1010 ‘WESTERN CAMPAIGNER’ – the ‘open depot’ event impacted on weekend activities but some excellent progress was made on the transmission, and Karl even managed to get some more painting done on the battery compartment doors on ‘A’ side while keeping clear of the visiting public. Here are some photos:
D1010 – a milestone achievement – the turbine rail and reverser shaft were re-installed in the ‘B’ transmission casing at Williton on Tuesday 25th April 2023. Congratulations to Colin F, Geoff and Tim (pictured) for making such good and steady progress with this complex task. Photo by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – the upper section of the ‘B’ transmission casing was inverted to allow the re-installation of the many pipes and seals, these tasks demanding great care and a very careful and systematic approach to the work. Pictured at Williton on Tuesday 25th April 2023 by Colin Foxhall © CC BY-NC 3.0
D1010 – activities in the main loco shed were restricted over the weekend because of the ‘open depot’ but volunteer and trainee secondman Karl was still able to make progress with one of the battery compartment doors. Pictured at Williton on Saturday 29th April 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
To continue our rate of progress requires FUNDING and we give our thanks to everyone who has supported D1010 by sponsoring or donating during these difficult times. If you are able to do so, please SPONSOR A PATCH because there is plenty of recently-added metal that still needs engraving. Photographs and certificates of sponsorship will be sent out to all who have sponsored this phase of the restoration work, and we are applying more resources to catch up with this obligation and deliver the documents. Click the image below to sponsor a patch. Thank you in advance for your support !
See our CAMPAIGN for CAMPAIGNER web page for more details. We still have a lot of work to do on this massive locomotive, so PLEASE DO COME ALONG AND HELP IF YOU CAN !
Class 33 D6566 (33 048) – this loco is still hiding inside the paint tunnel in the Swindon Shed at Williton where she is undergoing a paintwork refresh in the hands of WSR Restorations. We hope to see the loco emerge resplendent some time during the next week or so.
The repaint of Class 33 ‘Crompton D6566 (33 048) was progressing well when pictured in the paint tunnel at WSR Restorations Williton on 2nd May 2023. Photo by Harry Spencer © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 33 D6575 (33 057) – this loco is stabled at Minehead in readiness to take up her BLUE timetable duties on Saturday, Sunday and Monday 6/7/8th May.
Class 33 ‘Crompton’ D6575 (33 057) was stabled at Minehead over the weekend in a line of diesel locomotives that included Barclay 0-4-0DH 579 (ROF 2) just visible on the left and Class 03 D2133 on the right. Pictured on Saturday 29th April 2023 by Josh Brinsford © CC BY-NC 3.0
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7017 – this loco has been confirmed as OK to take up duties subject to the usual inspection checks, her next rostered duties being on Saturday and Sunday 20/21st May under the BLUE timetable. See our DIESEL RUNNING DATES page for information about this season’s diesel-hauled services.
Class 35 ‘Hymek’ D7018 – Neil and John made progress on the task list on this loco on Saturday 29th April and more resources will be brought to bear during this coming weekend. This loco is therefore expected to be available in good time for the Diesel Gala on June 8th through 10th.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9518 – the weekend was spent showing the restoration progress to the visiting public, but Tony had been at work during the previous week and had completed one of the four end doors that needed to be re-kinned due to corrosion. He will be continuing with his restoration work on the other three doors during the coming weeks.
D9518 – one of the nose-end doors at ‘B’ end has been completely re-skinned by Tony and is now ready for priming and painting. Another job well done! Pictured at Williton on Saturday 29th April 2023 by Andy Royal © CC BY-NC 3.0
This loco is the subject of a fundraising appeal so please follow this link to find out more. We need your help ! In addition to funds, we also need plenty of HANDS. If you love the ‘Teddy Bears’ and you are not already a member of the DEPG, please join us so that you can become one of the team that is going to return D9518 to fully operational condition as ‘NCB No. 7‘.
Class 14 ‘Teddy Bear’ D9526 – this loco is fully serviceable and ready for use as soon as suitable opportunities arise. We hope to be able to use this loco on a WSR service train in the near future.
Class 47 47077 ‘NORTH STAR’ – this loco is now back in regular use on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and is performing well. We hope to include details of her exploits in a future roundup.
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DH 578 – this loco is in full working order and is stabled in the South Yard, ready for action. We hope to apply her cabside lettering during the coming weeks to complete her ‘1972 makeover’.
If you can help by donating your time to any of these projects, then please JOIN US and come along to the depot for an introduction to what we do and how we do it. We currently have people on site from Saturday through to Tuesday and we can open on other days if we can be sure of getting at least two volunteers on site at all times, so there is plenty of scope. We have tasks of all types to suit most capabilities, both skilled and unskilled.
Many thanks to all of our volunteers who give up so much of their time to work on the cleaning, painting, maintaining, restoring, managing and fund raising for our fleet of heritage locomotives !