The Great Western Society by Anthony Burton

Author:Anthony Burton
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: TRANSPORTATION / Railroads / General
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Published: 2019-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

The partially completed reconstruction of a Saint, Lady of Legend, on show at Didcot with Hinderton Hall.

A Society member, David Bradshaw, suggested that among the locomotives still left from the Barry scrapyard, which were in too poor a condition to be worth restoring, there would be enough bits and pieces to create a County. The final ten locomotives left at the yard had originally been intended to form the basis for a railway centre in Cardiff, but that plan folded. As a result, there were three locomotives still owned by Cardiff and seven in the care of the Vales of Glamorgan. The idea was that all ten should be disposed of and negotiations got under way. Those negotiations dragged on for an incredible time, almost eight years before agreement was reached. The final document allowed for the creation of a Hawksworth County 4-6-0, a Churchward County 4-4-0 and a 47xx 2-8-0, as well as providing parts for other organisations considering building a County and a Grange. An appeal for funds for creating a County was opened with encouraging results and by July 2005, £85,000 had been raised, enough to make a start. The first job was to arrange for six new drive wheels to be prepared. This would involve making a pattern, casting the wheels and forging the axles and crank pins. The estimated cost was £120,000. It was decided to ask for spoke sponsorship; as each wheel had 21 spokes that made a grand total of 126 so £1,000 per spoke would cover the entire cost. The Vale of Glamorgan Council who offered Hall No 7927 and an 8F boiler made an important donation. It had always been the intention to run the completed County on other lines, not just at Didcot. So as a way of saying thank you to the Council a guarantee was offered that when completed it would spend time on the Vales of Glamorgan Railway – and would be graced with the name County of Glamorgan. Unfortunately, just three years later, the Council decided to remove its support from the Railway and offered the site to a new commercial venture, which would eventually become the Barry Tourist Railway. Three other locomotives were acquired to be scavenged for parts for the GWS and other projects – 4115, 2861 and 5227. The latter, once the useful parts were removed, was brought to Didcot where, as mentioned earlier, it was put on display. It gives a good idea of why these engines were basically beyond salvation. They were, however, all to prove extremely valuable in rebuild programmes.

By November, the modified Hall was leaving Barry for Llangollen, where it was to be dismantled and the frames sand blasted. Meanwhile the bogie, which had already been removed, was sent to Bill Parker’s Flourmill Works where the wheels would be turned and the journals polished before sending on to Didcot. The good news was that the boiler from the London Midland Region Stanier 8F which had been sent to L&NWR Co.

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