34058 Sir Frederick Pile is in the process of being transferred from the Mid Hants Railway to Southern Locomotives Ltd, with a plan for a cooperative restoration of the loco.
If you'd like to support this restoration please contact Simon Troy at 01474 833263 or at southernlocos@btinternet.com
34058 Sir Frederick Pile
The long road to restoration
34058 was withdrawn at Eastleigh on 15th October 1964, and moved to Woodhams scrap yard in Barry where it rested among the mass of steam locos. It was purchased by Mr Mike Vout, with a view to restoration. It moved to the Avon Valley Railway. Mr Vout devoted himself to acquiring or making many of the parts necessary to rebuild the loco, but the frames, axle boxes and wheels and boiler were not restored.
Mike Vout |
Sadly Mr Vout died in March 2015 at the age of 76 and the loco was donated to the Mid-Hants Railway. Parts of this engine were transported from the Avon Valley Railway near Bristol, including part of the boiler and wheel sets, with the remainder delivered by low loader in July 2011.
An active group worked to raise support for the restoration, however in 2022 the MHR approached SLL to pool resources that could lead to completion of the task.
The first steps of this work will be removal of the chassis to SLL's base at Sellindge where ground up work can start on the loco's frames.
34058 in Woodham's Scrap Yard. At one point the loco was planned to be part of the abortive Bournemouth Steam centre. |