News Update - August 2026
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34028 heads the GB XVIII tour from Penzance to Chester leg. Photo: Tony Gallop
From the Chair
Spring and early Summer has been marked by Eddystone's continued brilliant performance, firstly on a quick trip to Eastbourne, followed shortly by the Great Britain XVIII tour which involved '28 travelling 700 miles in just two days, all heavily covered in the Railway magazines. It was particularly nice that photographers such as Jon Hird immediately offered their photographs to us - many of you will have seen his brilliant photo on the front cover of Trackside.
Since then Eddystone has gone 'home' to Swanage with a second Swanage Belle and taken the Royal Duchy from Bristol to Par in Cornwall. All these excursions are only made possible because we have a dedicated and outstanding support crew - with long journeys for all of them just to get to Southall in the first place, before lighting up, warming the engine through and then preparing the locomotive for service.
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This often means a departure from Southall at 4 or 5 in the morning so they have extraordinarily long days as the return to London is often late in the evening, with an often tortuous journey back to Southall to put the locomotive to bed in the early hours of the following morning.
This is because apart from excursions from and to Paddington the locomotive must take complicated routes across London, often being held at signals for inordinate amounts of time awaiting a path. This exacerbates the problem of coal and water consumption.
Volunteers have been able to help at Southall ensuring that the locomotive and support coach are spotless inside and out, normally by the time the support crew arrive to light up. We have a pool of people we can call on so there are normally at least half a dozen or more assisting in the cleaning.
However, we do need more help and we hope more supporters to the west of London will volunteer to come - it doesn't have to be on a regular basis. If you can help, please email Peter Spowage on peterikon@virginmedia.com who co-ordinates the working parties.
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If more local people can volunteer it could mean that those living in Kent don't have to attend on every occasion, as most of the volunteers attend Sellindge at least once a week. We made clear at the start of the Eddystone venture that work on our other locomotives wouldn't be compromised financially or physically by operations on the Main Line.
Eddystone had its first run out of Kings Cross on 11th July with the White Rose to York. This should have been followed by The Dorset Coast Express to Weymouth on 22nd July, however the continuing hot weather led to a steam ban because of possible fires and so it was diesel hauled. At present we don't know when Eddystone will return to the rails.
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34070 - MANSTON
Manston returned to Swanage in mid-July from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway after a very successful couple of months hire. This will be the last occasion that it will be venturing out in its weathered condition as it will have a repaint this Autumn in Herston Works.
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Manston has now gone past the weathered stage and is beginning to look very uncared for. We had planned for the loco to have a piston and valve examination after the season, so we'll kill two birds with one stone. As planned Manston will be the recipient of Wadebridge's 4500 gallon high-sided tender which has been painted and lined out by MHR staff to match the shade that Manston will be painted once it emerges from Herston. We understand that it reflects the paint that 34059 carries on the Bluebell and there's certainly nothing wrong with that!
A couple of modifications will need to be made to the new tender before delivery to Herston this Winter which is underway at present. Manston's current tender will go behind 257 Squadron and will reflect the years it spent on the Main Line and in preservation, running with a 'narrow' tender designed for the restricted gauge requirements on the South Eastern for tunnels on the Hastings Line.
34072 - 257 SQUADRON
257 Squadron is spending the Summer on the Swanage Railway prior to receiving standard maintenance in the Autumn. There are no plans for any visits to other Railways at present. It will become the recipient of Manston's tender this Winter as described above. 257 will be the first of our Bulleids to be withdrawn for a 10 yearly overhaul. Subject to inspection and authorisation of our boiler inspector it is hoped that boiler removal will not be necessary on this occasion, speeding up the whole overhaul so that our restorations are not unduly compromised for long. A fast turnaround will boost 257's earnings and support those locos not yet restored.
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80104
80104 was finally transferred from Norden to Herston Works in June. It's a short journey, but owing to quotations we received, we waited until our transport contractor had a job not too far away from us, so that we could take advantage of a much cheaper rate as he was already in the area. The delay was frustrating but we must spend shareholder's funds carefully.
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All our resources at Herston are being concentrated on the rebuilding with progress visible on a daily basis. We have to thank our supporter who has needed the patience of a saint as this overhaul has taken much more time than expected, mainly due to the copper firebox.
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It's ironic that our tank locomotives have given us so much grief for one reason or another. The copper spaghetti of lubrication pipes pictured on the shelf in the last update is now being refitted onto the locomotive so that the team can prove that they know where it all goes!
The many components are now coming together, the only major item missing being the new superheater header. This is being arranged by our friend Stuart Robinson, owner of ex-SLL 80078 who is also having one manufactured for his loco.
As a result of the delay getting 80104 into the Works it will not be ready for the September gala as previously hoped but will be completed during the Winter so that next Spring we'll have both 80104 and Manston in ex Works condition.
75050 - NORMAN
The plan is for Norman to enter Herston Works when 80104 departs. Good progress is being made at Sellindge with a lot of our help from our friends at Automation Technologies. The axlebox overhaul has needed months of work as it is in essence a three dimensional problem that has to be resolved to within just a few thousands of an inch.
It's a complex process to ensure that all the axles are square to the frames, the correct distance from each other as well as the correct distance from the cylinders. Additionally they must all be at the correct height and central to the frames.
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To achieve all this the axleboxes must also be a good fit in the horns. In Norman's case we discovered that all 12 horns were dimensionally incorrect so all of them had to be taken off involving the removal of 84 fitted bolts. The unexpected problems with Norman's aborted overhaul are well documented, and this was just one more factor that we've had to overcome.
All the above meant a long, complex and expensive process, but we're now in a position to trial fit the boxes in the horns and then on to the corresponding axle journals. We will then finally be in a position to plan the reinstatement of the slide bars, the pistons and various other items prior to the rewheeling of Norman.
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We've now taken delivery of the new pistons and chimney for Norman - the latter has been dispatched to Herston as storage space at Sellindge is quite limited. At the moment it's cluttering up our new small workshop facility which for the past 40 years has been the storage area between two containers which was full of detritus not touched for decades, including an ancient but perfectly useable 4 ton boring machine.
We now have a decent undercover working area thanks to Gavin, a local craftsman who laid the floor and built new end walls for pretty much materials only, our neighbouring scaffolders who put a roof on the workshop, and Tim our electrician who has made a thoroughly professional job of rewiring the entire site over the months.
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The new slide bars for Norman have now been delivered. Reinstating these will be one of the first jobs, now that the fourth coat of paintwork inside the frames is nearly completed.
Meanwhile all the crown and sling stays have been fitted in Norman's boiler so the next phase in its overhaul can start thanks to Lawrence McDonald ably assisted by Dean and Dave Brailsford from 68078, when more than one pair of hands are necessary. In the recent hot weather working inside a small boiler is really the last place anyone would want to be.
It is good that we have such a loyal team at Sellindge. We can't imagine many other loco restoration groups who have 20 turn up in the middle of a heat crisis, and get a fantastic amount of work done, although we did call it a day when it hit 92. With new shareholders with engineering skills joining us combined with the team at Automation Technologies, our only constraint is that there are many jobs just not possible to do in a field, which we learnt 40 years ago at Blunsdon. Tom Bright from Steam Railway paid us a visit earlier in July which appears in the next issue and we think he was duly impressed with the activity and numbers at our humble abode. You'll be able to read his thoughts in their next edition.
34010 - SIDMOUTH/34058 SIR FREDERICK PILE
Both Bulleid boilers are at Tyseley, where preparatory work has been completed by SLL volunteers. The boiler intended for Sidmouth was taken from Sir Keith Park when its ticket expired. It was in running condition then, though it will need a new front tubeplate and doubtless other work. The other, from 34058, has been stripped and we await Tyseley's report. A section was cut in the rear tubesheet to permit access so that we could remove the regulator and it will definitely need a new front tubeplate. All three tube plates have been ordered.
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Work on these two locos will be progressed together at Sellindge to a stage where it is not practical to undertake tasks without have covered accommodation. Longer term there will be an interchange of parts, maybe even the boilers.
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The dragbox team have now all but completed all that they can do on Sidmouth before the frame extensions are welded and the whole rear end of the frames are re-riveted. However, rather than getting the riveters in twice, we will repeat the exercise on Sir Fred's frames so that we save funds. As the dragbox has been previously fitted in Brocklebank's frames, all the fitted bolt holes had to be filled and new ones drilled once it's installed. However, we are sure that Allan, Alan, and Derek will accomplish this in a reasonable timescale.
The cracks in the welds surrounding the axlebox housings on both locos will now be addressed by Auto Technologies starting this week. This is quite a long job as the original weld has to be removed to a great extent. Sir Fred was really life expired when withdrawn (unlike most Bulleids withdrawn in 64/65) and has the worst cracks, one extending into the frame itself. Having said that it's nothing like the crack in Sidmouth's frames welded up during BR days.
We've had a bit of a reality check on our future aspirations for Sidmouth and Sir Fred. We have a small full time staff at Swanage and we are asking them to complete 80104 this year, 75050 next, do a piston and valve examination on both Manston (with a repaint) and 257 Squadron, maintain Eddystone during the Winter months and then start the overhaul of 257 in 2028. We're a couple of tenders short as well with the parts for one set of frames in stock so working on another restoration is a major challenge.
With Eddystone's Main Line running now a valuable source of revenue it's essential that '28 is not out of service too long. We have to assume that we won't have the finances or time to complete the restoration of Sidmouth to Main Line status, so therefore the sensible way forward would be to utilise Sidmouth or Sir Fred's boiler, and make one of them ready for Eddystone's withdrawal. It would therefore be a bottom end overhaul only on '28, meaning the minimum loss of revenue earning service.
We are basing the above on projected income along with current staffing levels, facilities and utilisation of the same contractors whom we've used over the years. There may be people out there who could upgrade these aspirations so as ever with SLL nothing is set in concrete.
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This would also mean that we continue to use the same tender negating the need to fit all the expensive electronics on any new build. As it is we are having to build a stock of electronic component spares in case something goes wrong on Eddystone, as it inevitably will.
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34053 - SIR KEITH PARK
Many of you will have seen pictures of Sir Keith Park taking the inaugural train over the new Broom Lane bridge on the Spa Valley which has cost an eye-watering sum of money. Hopefully no idiot drivers will hit it although an over height vehicle struck the bridge in early June with fortunately far more damage to the vehicle than the bridge.
Recently it became clear that the many bogie and trailing truck coil springs on site and found that the many which we had inherited at Sellindge over the years, were not fit for purpose. Martin Stables examined all the coil springs on site and found that three of the four principle criteria were wrong, namely the outside diameter, the wire diameter and the number of coils. However, they were nicely painted but not fit to use! We've now placed a large order for the fleet although it will be some time before delivery.
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When we received the news that Sir Keith had broken a bogie spring in early June it was discovered that the only useable spare was in Eddystone's support coach, but it predictably stayed there! We therefore turned to the locos in the field. Brocklebank's bogie springs which are in situ were dismissed in case they were the same as those found in its container, but whilst most of the coil springs on Sir Fred have been removed or are clearly broken, we spotted two which looked and indeed proved good after 60 plus years.
After thorough cleaning and inspection they were driven to Tunbridge Wells, the broken one was replaced and the engine returned to traffic in super quick time. It's a real advantage having multiple Bulleids!
35025 - BROCKLEBANK LINE
We haven't had time to do any further work on the Merchant Navy apart from the purchase of a tarpaulin to protect '25's drivers now fully primered, taped and greased where appropriate. Many of you will have seen Brocklebank's boiler being hauled by McLaren road engine 1713 on its way to various events. We'd like to thank Ian Langley for giving us more space at Sellindge by caring for it over the past year or two.
One of the reasons that we have so little space at Sellindge is that five semi-derelict coaches are blocking access to the majority of our field. Fortunately the owners of the two EPB coaches have agreed to move them onto a parallel track and push them down the field so that we will be able to actually utilise the majority of our site. Hopefully this will happen before the weather turns.
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What a fine body of people resting from their toils during the heat wave. Thanks to Alan (one L), Bob,
Richard, Mick, Colin, Roy, Dave Sheekey, Hugh, Dave Brailsford, Bryan, Allan (Two Ls) Mike, Peter Ellis, Robin, Dean, Jo, Steve and Derek in the
red overalls who appeared to be chewing on a lemon at the time. Only two of the usual regulars missing - Peter Spowage was on an errand and Richard Green was
just skiving. Photo: Simon Troy. |
Finally, if any readers can assist us in recouping some of the lost revenue from Eddystone's inactivity please contact Simon on simon.troy@southern-locomotives.co.uk - it would be much appreciated. You could perhaps make a donation or consider buying a share and becoming a part owner of our fleet.
News Update - April 2026
From the Chairman
It's been a while since our last update as we wanted to have accurate information about Eddystone's planned excursions over the next few months. These are listed below and also in the Main Line page of this website.
We would mention that Bryan Atkins and Richard Moffatt are hoping to gather as many of the original Eddystone supporters on The Swanage Belle from Victoria operating on 20th May. If you would like to join the train, please specify that you're a Southern Locomotives shareholder when applying for seats on the Railway Touring Company website so that you are allocated seats in a coach set aside for SLL. Please note that the fares are as per the website and no discounts are available.
There's been much activity at Herston, Tyseley and Sellindge, which has been made possible by the continuing support of our shareholders, and of course our staff and dedicated volunteers, many of whom have worked through appalling weather conditions this Winter to ensure that progress is not disrupted.
AGM - HARMANS CROSS VILLAGE HALL
We will be holding our AGM for shareholders at the above location on Saturday 10th October at 1100 a.m. There is ample parking and the address is Haycraft Lane, Harman's Cross, BH193EB. Apparently there's also a steam railway close by so it may be possible to arrive by train from Swanage or Norden, though the October timetable has yet to be published.
Company management changes
During the first half of 2026 there have been a number of changes in the company's management. Dave Town has resigned fron the board due to poor health. Dave worked with as for many years, back to the days when we worked on 80104 on the Avon Valley Railway, and subseqently instrumentation in the building two of our Bulleid tenders at Herston Works.
Bob Bevis stood down from the board after many years of work at Swanage, and was a leader on the resoration and overhauls of our locos for over 20 years. Martin Stables has also left the board, though will still be one of the team, advising on engineering, safety procedures, etc.
Joining us is Steve Duncalfe who has worked in supporting main line steam operations.
Hitherto the role of company secretary was shared by Jon Clevedon and Simon Troy. Those duties will now be held by Mrs Karen Cleverdon, who is experienced with this function
80104
This will be the next locomotive to leave the Herston Works production line, hopefully in a few months. All the boiler cladding has now been reinstated and painted on the low loader which it arrived on, the only exception being one boiler barrel section where the crane strops will be located when it is lifted on to the frames.
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With the 'pad' at Norden being heavily utilised by visiting locos for the Swanage gala and availability of low loaders, this movement couldn't happen any sooner. The loco will soon be back in Herston for final assembly with a view to it being in operation for the Autumn Gala.
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Stewart Robinson, owner of ex SLL loco 80078 has kindly arranged for the manufacture of a new superheater header for 80104, the original having been condemned. We are collecting the original so that Graham can retrieve all the new studs fitted originally, when we thought just an overhaul was needed. Thanks again to Peter for doing yet another 600 mile round trip in the company van to both collect a new chimney for Norman and retrieve the header. The van was a sensible purchase as it's constantly being used between our sites.
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The overhaul of 80104 has certainly been a long and tortuous one and only made possible by a Swanage Railway supporter, who has lent us twice as much money than originally envisaged to ensure the Railway would have a Standard Tank again. Such was the work involved, especially with the boiler, its next 10 yearly overhaul should involve a minimum amount of work. We hope it will be the star of the show at the Autumn gala.
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34028 - EDDYSTONE
Eddystone returned to Swanage after a series of highly successful excursions where it gained many new admirers, not least with the crews. The final tour was from Three Bridges to Bristol and back, but to save many more hours work and time for the support crew, '28 was taken off at Salisbury and returned to Swanage.
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Apart from the Winter Warm Up gala during the first weekend of 2026 Eddystone was out of traffic until the Spring Gala. During the down time the annual boiler examination has taken place and a tender modification made. This has both increased the coal capacity and the difficulty of pulling coal down. The eccentric was removed and refitted to allow new felts to be installed together with new studs and cotters. The outside expansion links have been removed so that newly overhauled components can be fitted.
The smokebox spark screens have been modified to reduce spark emission when working hard, based on the arrangements fitted to Braunton and Tangmere. Various components have been overhauled including the sanders, clack valves, blowdown valve and ashpans and work on the bogie has now enabled the axleboxes to be lubricated from outside the locomotive. New brake blocks have been fitted and we now have our own pattern for future replacements.
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SLL Main Line
The 2026 season starts on 15th April.
Planned 2026 main line operations
Saturday 11th July The White Rose Kings Cross to York.
Wednesday 22nd July Dorset Coast Express. Victoria to Weymouth.
Saturday 8th August West Somerset Express. Paddington to Minehead.
Saturday 5th September The Wensum & Thames Explorer. Norwich to Reading.
Wednesday 23rd September The Dorset Coast Express. Victoria to Weymouth.
Sunday 27th September. Royal Duchy IV Bristol to Par.
34053 - SIR KEITH PARK
The steam pipe which runs along the top of the firebox to the manifold in the cab fractured in early March. Liam Trevail removed it and Peter Spowage drove it down to Herston Works the following day where it was repaired in quick time. Transferring it back in the van to the Spa, Liam refitted it so that Sir Keith was up and running for the beer festival. Thanks to both of them for ensuring that a drama didn't turn into a crisis! Owing to the installation of a hugely expensive new bridge a little way down the line the Spa has been operating a curtailed service but with track laying starting imminently Sir Keith will soon be back in action over the whole Railway.
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34070- MANSTON
This is the last season that Manston will be working in its work-stained condition. During the past few weeks routine maintenance has been carried out including an oil change and various pins and bushes have been replaced on the brake gear. Following a visit to the East Lancs Railway for their Legends of Steam weekend on 10-12 April Manston will return to Swanage, and then spending approximately 10 weeks on the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway. Following a return to Swanage it is planned to move the loco to Herston in the Autumn where both a piston and valve exam will take place as well as a full repaint.
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34072 - 257 SQUADRON
Following an extended stay on the Great Central Railway 257 returned to the Swanage Railway in mid-March to appear at the Spring Gala. As usual '72 has been performing well and apart from routine maintenance the only planned work is to replace lubricator components with newly overhauled units, and renew the associated oilers and filters as required when it has its annual boiler exam in the Autumn.
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In the last update we reported that it had been decided that 34007 Wadebridge would not be going on the Main Line so the proposed tender swap with 257's would not be taking place. There has now been a change of plan by the MHR and the swap is apparently back on! We're not sure when this will happen as certain work has to be arranged on Wadebridge's tender before it can be utilised with Manston. For instance we've standardised all the water pipe couplings so we can easily swap tenders - Wadebridge's will need to be changed as will the rubbing plate between engine and tender. Then there's a question of matching engine and tender paintwise but we've been assured this tender swap will not see SLL out of pocket, and no date has been fixed when this will actually happen.
75050 - NORMAN
As this is the next SLL locomotive to be transferred to Herston Works a great deal of attention is being given to it at Sellindge. After it was completely stripped of old paint it's had the benefit of a coat of Rustoleum and undercoating is well progressed with top coat being applied in all the areas which will be difficult to get to once re-wheeled. As the rebuild continues we are finding more errors made by the initial contractor which has caused additional work. The axleboxes have had to be completely rebuilt but with the enormous help rendered by our friends at Automation Technologies the final job is now being undertaken. As the cylinders had to be relined it has been necessary to cast two new piston heads so that the piston ring grooves could be modified to fit the smaller bore - these have now been delivered to our machinists who are also producing new slide bars for us.
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One of our shareholders has kindly arranged for a new chimney to be manufactured for Norman - the previous one was regrettably swapped, unbeknown to us, for a scrap one after leaving Yorkshire. Once again Peter will be taking the van to Crewe to collect it.
Work continues on the boiler with all the crown stays now fitted and ground down to size. There is still much work to do and we hope that extra days can be fitted in by our boilersmith as we need the frames and the boiler to be finished at roughly the same time. We will be asking Lawrence to have a small rest from boiler work to weld Sidmouth and Sir Freddie's frame extensions, and then there's the weld repairs to undertake around the axleboxes on both locos. For a successful job this will need to be done during the warmer months. We aim to have the re-wheeling complete within four or five months so that Norman is ready to be transferred to Dorset.
34010 - SIDMOUTH & 34058 - SIR FREDERICK PILE
The Sid Vale Association's premises were full to capacity for our webmaster's presentation to the good folk of Sidmouth, which followed a campaign on the town's poster boards. Several of those present subsequently purchased shares in the loco, and two found their way to the footplate on the DX trips just two weeks after the talk.
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Sidmouth (the town) was plastered with advertisements describing the loco's history and restoration, and invitations to the webmaster's talk.
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Despite the awful weather conditions endured until recently, the drilling of the frames to take the new dragbox was completed and it was lifted into the frames a few weeks ago. It is now secured by all the necessary new fitted bolts with the next job of drilling all the rivet holes to size along the entire length of the rear of the frames is well underway. Final welding of the new frame extension plates to the original will then be undertaken and finally our riveting company will return to complete the entire job. However before this is undertaken, Allan and Alan will be transferring the mag drill to Sir Freddie Pile and starting the whole process all over again. This will hopefully be quicker given hopefully better weather - a freezing wind, rain or sleet is not too conducive to efficient working, although Alan in his 90th year appears completely oblivious to cold or heat.
We're on the brink of ordering new tubeplates for both locomotives although Sidmouth's boiler was the recipient of a new rear tubeplate during the restoration of Sir Keith Park, so won't be needing a replacement. Our volunteers are doing some of the groundwork for Tyseley staff to remove the tubes from Sidmouth's boiler so that it can have a full examination prior to front tubeplate installation. As far as is possible both boilers will be progressed but at some point assuming we're not the beneficiary of a large sum of money, we will ask Tyseley to concentrate on whichever boiler is considered the cheapest to finish first.
It is our intention to make Sidmouth ready for the Main Line and given financial restraints it is likely that we will utilise Eddystone's current tender. We have a 6000 gallon tender tank ex 35025 but to utilise that we'd have to start from scratch and build a completely new set of Merchant Navy frames at huge expense - something to contemplate if we can get '25 off the ground but it's all down to sponsorship.
We have the steel for a Light Pacific tender frame along with wheelsets, axleboxes and much else for a new tender build which was inherited from Mike Vout, but that will still mean we're a Light Pacific tender short if all our locomotives are to have one. It is certainly our wish to equip each locomotive with one as they are extremely vulnerable to damage as proven at Barry!
35025 BROCKLEBANK LINE
It's always been clear that financially this could be a restoration too far. However, we are spending many man hours ensuring that what we have is protected against further damage. The wheels and frames are stripped and Rustoleum applied with the wheels being undercoated and the frames to follow. The drivers were turned on the Swindon wheel lathe by the previous owners and are ready to go. More recently the rear of the frames will have the same treatment as Sidmouth and Sir Fred and a new dragbox fitted just to keep things ticking over.
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Our hope has been that we will attract a sponsor given that the project is very much a going concern, especially given that the boiler is in much better condition than previous Barry acquisitions.
COMPANY MATTERS
Driving % Firing trips for shareholders
Following this year's three days of Driving & Firing (DX) for our shareholders on April 10-12th Swanage Railway have offered us three more DX trips this year, on 4 - 6th November at Swanage. As usual all shareholders may apply for a place. If you wish to take part please send an email to Nick Thompson at: nicksidmouth@gmail.com Please state any preferences, e.g.which day or time suits you best. New shareholders are usually given some priority, along with those supporting us currently with their time and/or money. Places are limited so please apply by Sunday 15th September, and we will offer places by early October.
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And finally
Thanks to all who have supporte
News Update - December 2025
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Michael Topham's stunning photo of Eddystone heading to London on 11th November
From the Chairman
EX10
The Sid Vale Association is England's oldest civic society, custodian of the town's history and engaged watching the town's future. It has the records of the two local newspapers, the Sidmouth Herald, which is still active, and the Sidmouth Observer, no longer in print.
The last update was written just after our first excursion to Swanage which whilst highly successful did come to an abrupt stop at Basingstoke. This transpired to be caused by a tiny component in the middle connecting rod which restricts the flow of oil to the big end, working its way loose. It was therefore with some trepidation that we awaited departure of our second excursion operating from Slough to Chester. We needn't have worried as this and the following week's return run from Manchester to Reading went without a hitch, with a lot of high speed running as anyone with access to YouTube or social media will have seen.
The locomotive looked perfect having had the attention of our Southall cleaning team for which we are still looking for new recruits. As we've stressed we don't want to compromise our restorations of locomotives by diverting resources to '28, so we're looking for people who don't currently volunteer. It's about a once a month job if you can assist.
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Our Support Coach left Herston works on 2nd December which coincided with the return of 80104's boiler to Herston for the fitting of the crinolines and cladding. This had been a little delayed by Tyseley's crane breaking down and then the hired in one failing as well!
There will be several months work once 80104's boiler has been reunited with the frames but we're hoping that it will be ready to haul trains at Swanage before the end of 2026. As reported in the last update an unexpected problem of needing a new superheater header has really strained the finances, so any support readers can offer would be much appreciated.
The run on Armistice Day was around Kent with possibly a first visit of a working Bulleid Pacific to the Isle of Sheppey, although a couple of Light Pacifics were towed to Queenborough on the island to be cut up in the mid sixties. Following a 90 minute stay in which Richard Green and Bob Waterman did a roaring trade on the platform with Eddystone souvenirs, the train departed for Dover and Folkestone travelling over the same line as our first foray on to the Main Line in 1990 in connection with 257 Squadron's recommissioning at Folkestone.
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Again, a faultless run back to Victoria, Eddystone attracted a large number of commuters as it arrived towards the end of the rush hour and it certainly gained more than a few admirers. There were three more runs before Christmas, Sunday 29th November saw our first run out of Paddington to Bath and Bristol. On 6th December we ran from Newbury to Rochester and on the 13th it was from Three Bridges to Bath and Bristol again.
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Meanwhile Manston continues to give sterling service only being withdrawn temporarily for new clack valves to be fitted as the originals were causing problems. 257 Squadron continues its sojourn in Yorkshire and a decision will be made soon as to how long it's staying at Pickering, which could now be until the Spring.
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We don't know whether Wadebridge is going out on to the Main Line now, so perhaps 257 Squadron may not be receiving a high-sided tender after all, but the offer to the Wadebridge guys stands if they do eventually decide to upgrade 34007.
Southern Locomotives now has another fitter in Herston Works. Kaden will be joining our apprentice Tom, who's been with us for 18 months and doing well. As evidenced by the photos, Bailey and colleagues have done a magnificent job on our support coach which Eddystone will take to Southall at the beginning of next season.
SELLINDGE
Far from the glamour of Main Line running (tell that to Graham at 4 in the morning in a freezing Southall shed), work continues at Sellindge and other locations in the south-east. This year tended to concentrate on our WD Austerity Norman, with work progressing well on the boiler, 80% of the unskilled work completed on the frames and with axlebox repairs taking place offsite, along with the manufacture of new slide bars, we will soon be able to start the reconstruction of the locomotive.
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The frames have now been primed and undercoated externally and internally a coat of Rustoleum is nearly completed. The top half of the cab was turned on its side to make the task of stripping the entire unit easier, and this has now been stripped primed and undercoated.
We have been trying to negotiate the purchase of a new set of tyres for Sir Fred but while we have a quote for the drivers and bogie, we don't have one for the cost of the trailing truck tyres yet. To this end we have been stripping the drivers and they have mostly had two coats of Rustoleum and undercoat, always a pain in the open air as the pockets are either full of water or leaves, or both. There's also a fair amount of sixties detritus as well where Andy and team couldn't get to when it was at Alresford.
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The initial riveting of the rear plates on both '10 and '58 went very smoothly which now gives the opportunity of offering the dragboxes up into the frames so that we can ascertain where holes have to be drilled or filled. At the same time we're removing the remaining rivets from Sir Fred's rear frames so that we can ensure that there is no rust between the doubler plates as we did on Sidmouth.
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Once that's done, the new plate sections which replaced the badly wasted ones and which are currently bolted on, will be welded to the original by Lawrence Donaldson and then both sets of frames will have the attention of the riveter once again. Finally the drag boxes will be installed and this lengthy task will be complete on both locomotives, the speed of which very much depends on the weather over the next three or four months. We are basically doing the same job on the rear of Brocklebank Line's frames with the dragbox being built in association with the guys restoring Shaw Savill.
Having already transferred Sidmouth's coupling rods, crank rods and other items to our new machining company, we will be making another collection from Swanage of non-ferrous items along with parts for Norman, now that we are restoring the entire locomotive at Sellindge.
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Even on a bad day we have at least 15 volunteers at Sellindge and normally well over 20 so we do achieve a lot. When a dozen angle grinders are being used along with other power tools as well as the electric compressor, it is just as well that we expended a considerable amount of money having the entire site rewired, but it was money well spent for both safety and efficiency.
It is disappointing that we can utilise only a fraction of the land that we have a 99 year lease on, owing to a row of rotting electric units which prevent access to most of the field. They will clearly never be restored but mean that we and the double decker guys who regularly work on the unit that came from Northampton, have to be squeezed on the edge of the field, as you will have noted from photographs of Sir Fred Pile, Sidmouth and Brocklebank Line, it's all rather frustrating but we will continue to improve the site, the first task of 2026 to convert what is now a storage area into a covered workshop.
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SUPPORT COACH
Mk1.BR coach BSK 35011 was built by BR in the 1960's and following withdrawal moved to London Transport in the early 1990's for use on "Steam on the Met" services. It had been kept under cover at Ruislip since the termination of those services, and it was subsequently donated to the Swanage Railway.
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With the closeness of SLL and Swanage Railway the railway donated the coach to SLL and supported the work to convert Eddystone and its tender to main line standards. The locomotive was ready for operation by July 2025 and the first commercial run was on 10th September from Victoria to Swanage and return. That service included a support coach from the service operator the Railway Touring Company.
Meanwhile work on S 35011 continued in Herston Works, receiving a full overhaul, and equipping it for the long hours and harsh condition of steam tours, and the supplies which might be needed en route. The external finish is also very smart, to match the polished loco and smart coaches for the paying passengers.
The coach is now back on Swanage Ralway track, where some remaining work is being completed.
As built the BSK had a lavatory, four passenger compartments, a guard's compartment and a luggage area.Down the corridor:
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