March 2008

On-train Dining Services

The ‘Dorsetman’ Sunday Luncheon Train restarts on 2 March and the ‘Wessex Belle’ Saturday evening dining train restarts on 8 March. Advanced booking essential on 01929 475207.

Easter Specials.

On Good Friday and Easter Saturday, 21/22 March, there will be a Hot Cross Bun for every passenger on our trains and on Easter Day and Easter Monday, 23/24 March, there will be a Swanage Railway Easter Egg for every child passenger. Trains leave Swanage and Norden at 9.50 and then every 40 minutes. Until Easter, trains run every weekend. After Easter, trains run daily to the end of October.

‘Railway at Work’ Weekend, 5-6 April.

Come and see behind the scenes on our busy working railway and talk to the people who make it work. At Swanage, visit the footplate of a loco in steam and have guided tours of other parts of the Railway, including the Signal Box and the Carriage & Wagon Workshops. Events also at Corfe Castle, Norden and Herston Loco Works. Displays by various Departments explaining the opportunities for volunteers. Pick up a leaflet detailing what’s going on. Open to the General Public (as well as to Swanage Railway Trust Members) from 10.00 am on both days.

Drive a Steam Engine!

The Taster Steam Experience and Full Day Railway Experience are now available between March and June. An ‘Extra Special’ present for your loved one? For further info on all the above, call at the Station, phone 01929 425800 or visit our website at www.swanagerailway.co.uk.

Purbeck Railway Circle

On Friday 14 March Neil Kearns of the Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society will tells us about ‘The Restoration of SR 850 Lord Nelson’. Read Neil’s article below. We meet in the Catholic Church Hall, Rempstone Road, Swanage, at 7.00 for 7.30 pm. All welcome. Michael Walshaw, Secretary PRC, Station House, Swanage, BH19 1HB, phone 01929 421913.

‘Lord Nelson’ in preservation

The locomotive ‘Lord Nelson’, Southern Railway No.850, built at Eastleigh Loco Works in 1926, was selected for preservation by the British Transport Commission when withdrawn in 1962. ‘Lord Nelson’ was stored at Fratton, Stratford and the Pullman Car works at Brighton. In 1975 she (all steam locos are feminine – I wonder why! Michael Walshaw) was moved to York for display at the newly established National Railway Museum. Soon afterwards, ‘Lord Nelson’ was loaned to ‘Steamtown’ at Carnforth for restoration for mainline operation.

'Lord Nelson' at Eastleigh Works, April 2006. Photo: ERPS/Janet Kearns

‘Lord Nelson’ returned to steam in 1979, working excursion trains in the north of England and appeared at the ‘Rainhill 150’ celebrations. Steam locos were banned from the Southern Region between 1974 and 1988. Problems were experienced with the firebox during 1985 and ‘Lord Nelson’ was placed on static display until 1997. In that period ‘Steamtown’ changed from a preservation centre to an engineering works serving privatised railway operators. In 1997 it was agreed that ‘Lord Nelson’ would be loaned to Eastleigh Railway Preservation Society (ERPS) for restoration to mainline operating condition again.

Work started in 1998. The loco was in good mechanical condition, but the boiler and firebox had considerable problems. Much of the initial Heritage Lottery Fund grant was used with boiler repairer Roger Pridham in Tavistock for dismantling the boiler and identifying the defects. There was serious wastage of both tube-plates and cracking of the outer firebox. The extent of the repairs was agreed in 2002 with the National Railway Museum, ERPS and Heritage Lottery Fund. A major fundraising exercise accompanied the application for the second HLF grant. Work on the boiler accelerated once the grant was confirmed, with tube-plates, the throat plate, the back-head and half of the copper inner firebox being replaced.

The boiler returned to Eastleigh in October 2005. This movement, together with many aspects of the restoration, was sponsored by many local companies. The loco was reassembled and painted before being unveiled by The Princess Royal in April 2006. ‘Lord Nelson’ was diesel-hauled to the West Somerset Railway in August 2006 for running-in and appeared at their Autumn Gala. Additional safety equipment required for mainline operation was completed at the East Lancs Railway in February 2007. ‘Lord Nelson’ was finally approved for mainline operation after a test run from Carnforth in March 2007.

On 31 March 2007, ‘Lord Nelson’ worked her first mainline train in 22 years, from Minehead to Eastleigh. Until August 2007 she worked nine further rail tours and gained a reputation as a powerful and free-running loco. Unfortunately, a fault was then discovered with the firebox and the loco was taken out of use. ‘Lord Nelson’ is now at the National Railway Museum at York, where the fault has been investigated. Happily no major structural damage has been found and it will be repaired and the loco returned to service soon.

Do come and hear my talk about the trials and tribulations of steam loco restoration on 14 March. Neil Kearns