Rebuilding a GWR Classic


Restoration of No. 2807 by Cotswold Steam Preservation started on its rescue from Woodhams scrap yard at Barry in 1981. The process has been long and at times painful, but it is now possible to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Three Objectives

Restoration has gathered pace over the last few years, and has centred on three main objectives:

Considerable progress has been made on all of these.

Chassis

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Work on the chassis has involved:

Boiler

Progress on the boiler has included:

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Tender

Progress on the tender has included:

Plan


Overview of the plan to complete No. 2807

Feb 2006 Boiler to Llangollen
 Chassis and tender work continues at Toddington
Early 2007 Tender to Llangollen and completed to running condition
Jan 2009 Llangollen complete firebox repairs and stay replacement
Apr 2009 Llangollen complete boiler barrel repairs and internals
May 2009 Llangollen fit front tube plate and re-tube boiler
June 2009 Chassis completed at Toddington
July 2009 Move chassis and remaining boiler parts to Llangollen
October 2009 Boiler hydraulic test
November 2009 Boiler steam test
 Re-unite chassis and boiler
December 2009 Complete backhead pipework and test, tender completed
Jan / Feb 2010 Test running at Llangollen
March 2010 Move loco to Toddington, test running
April 2010 Running on G.W.R.


When complete and steaming, No. 2807 will share in the duties at The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. The railway runs between Cheltenham and Toddington via Winchcombe, all in Gloucestershire. The line is ten miles in length, giving larger locomotives a sensible length of run. The next target for the railway is an extension to Broadway, Worcestershire.

Cylinder Pressure Relief Valve

Ironically, steam freight engines are very suitable for passenger services on preserved heritage railways. Preserved railways typically have a speed limit of around 25 miles per hour. Express passenger locomotives are designed for speeds much higher than this and are not so comfortable at these low speeds. Freight engines on the other hand are designed to run at lower speeds hauling heavy trains. For this reason they tend to be more at home at preserved railway speeds.

They can also be used for freight charters where they are of course doing the job for which they were designed, hauling freight trains at moderate speed.



If you would like to visit 2807, contact Roger Molesworth who will be able to arrange to show you around the locomotive. It will probably be easiest to arrange this for one of the 2807 restoration team working days.

Please note that when 2807 is at Toddington, it is situated within the yard in an area that is not normally accessible to the public for health and safety reasons.



If you want to help us to restore No. 2807 then see our restoration team page for details.



How are we doing? Check out the restoration diary for details.


Find the latest news on 2807
Discover why we think 2807 should be restored
See what happened when with our timeline
If you want to help us to restore No. 2807 then see our restoration team page for details.