Honorary President Professor Dugald Cameron OBE

B1 IDENTITY CHANGE (Photo : Mark O’Brien)

B1 Class 4-6-0 No 1264 has emerged from the works following winter maintenance on the North Yorkshire

Moors Railway looking resplendent in LNER lined black livery. It will start to run NYMR trains in the near

future and will return to Network Rail metals on the ‘Whitby Flyer’ railtour from York to Whitby on 14th

April. Three legs of the Great Britain XI tour will follow, taking the loco north to Edinburgh, Inverness and

Kyle of Lochalsh before returning to North Yorkshire for the 2018 season.

Better known perhaps as BR No 61264, the loco has received two major overhauls in preservation, the first

one costing £250,000 and the second one almost £450,000. It is a sobering thought that, as wonderful as it

will be to see No 1264 running again in 2018, at 1947 prices NB Loco could have built 43 more B1’s for the

cost of the two overhauls ! More details and photos can be found on : https://www.thompsonb1.org

£700K is an inspirational amount to be raised by a locomotive group and it gives us encouragement to press

on with our own preservation plans. Funds are urgently needed for three of our projects at the moment, 19D

4-8-2 No 2767, Hendrie 4-8-0 No 1301 and ‘Footballer’ 4-6-0 No 61662. Full details of the current status of

these projects and how you can help will be found on Pages 3, 5 & 7. We also need more Members to join

us to help with Admin costs and the production of our Newsletters. Please support us if you can.

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BASQUE MUSEUM (photos : Museo Vasco del Ferrocarril)

We are very grateful to NBLPG Member Mark Meyts for drawing our attention to the metre gauge Basque

Railway Museum which includes Sharp Stewart 0-6-0T No 1 ‘Zugastieta’ (SS 3435) in their stock list. The

Association of Friends of the Basque Railway Museum are a not for profit organisation which was

established by Eusko Tren in May 1998 and has 70 members who support the running of the ‘Urola Valley

Steam Train’ which was launched later the same year.

The train makes a five-kilometre journey between the town of Azpeitia, some 40 kms south west of San

Sebastian, and the village of Lasao using the route of the old Zumararaga to Zumaya Railway line (Zumaia)

which was closed in 1986. The next phase of the this line will be built between Lasao and Zumaia, located

ten kilometers away, thus allowing a link from the latter location with the Bilbao-San Sebastián Railway.

The ‘Zugastieta’ locomotive was built by Sharp Stewart in 1888 for the railway to Gernika, where it was

known as the "isabelita koipesta" due to the high oil consumption of its inner cranks. ( ! ) This machine

worked on the extension of the route to Bermeo, which took place between 1945 and 1955, five years later,

in 1960, it was replaced by bigger locomotives and then diesel traction. The Basque Railway Museum

preserved it in 1993 and its operational restoration took place in 1995. Our photos show it in service at

Azpeitia Station in 2014 and in its pre-restoration condition in 1993.

More information about the railway and this beautiful little engine can be found on Facebook at :

https://www.facebook.com/BML.azpeitia

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61662 UPDATE (photos KL Collection)

Late snow delayed work on No 61662’s new running plates in early March but by the middle of the month

the centre section, an 8 foot sheet of steel plate, had been profiled and lifted into place. We have to thank

Ollie from the adjacent garden centre for his help with this, the use of his fork lift truck saved us a

considerable sum in potential craneage fees !

There is one further straight section to be fitted before we tackle the famous ‘Gresley Curves’ to drop the

running plate down to cylinder height. We also need to fit a valance to the existing section of running plate

but the metal for this is already cut and prepared so hopefully it should be a relatively straightforward task !

Funds are of course needed to take this project forward and donations of any amount are welcomed. Every

penny helps and all contributions will be acknowledged. £25 Shares in the new No 61662 are still available

so please use the donation form at the back of this Newsletter if you are able to help.

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PAKISTAN SIX COUPLED (photos from Bob Francis)

New correspondent Bob Francis is very kindly putting together a CD of some of his overseas NBL photos

for us and has emailed a couple of pictures he took in Pakistan in 1978 as a taster. These feature a Dubs

NWR 4-6-0 in static preservation and an NBL SGC 0-6-0 that was still in regular service.

Preserved outside Moghalpur Works in Lahore, is Class L No.448. Built by Dubs, (Works No 3979 of 1900)

three years before the merger that created NBL. Legend has it that this design inspired the Highland “Jones

Goods”. Although 448 was built after HR 103, the first of the class predates 103. This photo dated 20/11/78.

The previous day, Bob photographed ex North Western Railway SGC Class 0-6-0 No. 1196 (NB 19285 of

1910) at Kotri Junction station. The SG Class 0-6-0’s were a BESA design dating from 1903, North British

turned out 150 of them for the North Western Railway in several batches between 1908 and 1913. Sadly

none of the NBL SG’s have been preserved in Pakistan but several Vulcan Foundry examples survive.

We look forward to further contributions from Bob in the coming months.

HENDRIE ON THE MOVE (Main Photo : John Batwell)

As mentioned in our December Newsletter, we have been discussing moving our Hendrie NGR 1A 4-8-0 No

1301 from Greenside Colliery to a new Museum near Pretoria for restoration and display. I am delighted to

say that a similar Agreement to the one drawn up for our 19D at Creighton has now been signed by

ourselves and the Wonderboom Military Museum and hopefully the locomotive will soon be on the move.

Based on an eight-hectare site at Wallmansthal, north of Pretoria, the WMM already has a DC 6 aircraft and

plans to display three separate trains each with a steam locomotive. The Museum will be split into several

different time zones from 1899 to 1969 and visitors will be able to move backwards or forwards in time as

they enjoy their tour of the site. All three steam locomotives currently stored at Greenside Colliery will be

displayed at the Museum including our own No 1301 plus two 14R 4-8-2’s Nos 1701 and 1908. No 1908 is

another North British product (NB 20829 / 1914) but was heavily rebuilt with a new cab and boiler by SAR.

Newly laid track is now in place at WMM to accommodate the locos and Mercor, the firm who relocated our

19D, will be used for the move. Costs are estimated at around R125,000 (approx. £7,621) per engine but as

Tim Gilbert’s 2014 photo shows, there is a great deal of coal waste to be cleared before the locos can be

loaded. WMM will cover up-front costs to ensure that the move goes ahead but we urgently need to raise

funds for transport and restoration so please support our Hendrie appeal on Page 8 of this Newsletter if you

can. The new Museum is planning to open in June 2018 and we look forward to seeing the locos on display.

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1970’s AUSTRALIA (Notes & photos from Geoff Hall)

Globetrotting SA steam driver Geoff Hall has very kindly sent us several photographs of NB steam that he

took during an extended visit to Australia in the early 1970’s. Our top photo shows 1914-built T Class 2-8-0

No 5269 (NB 20630) double heading a long freight with a 59 Class 2-8-2 at Gosforth, NSW in May 1971.

North British constructed 84 of these sturdy locomotives for the New South Wales Government Railways

between 1912 and 1915 but sadly none were preserved.

Whilst in New South Wales, Geoff photographed two interesting Dubs tank engines at Eveleigh Works and

at Bathurst respectively. Exquisite 0-4-0 Crane Tank No 1030 (Dubs 1237) was built in 1879 and was still in

service as works shunter in October 1970. No 1034 of this series has been preserved at Thirlmere.

At the other end of the scale, odd looking 0-6-0 Saddle Tank No 2604 (Dubs 2793) is seen shunting the

yards at Bathurst in September 1970. One observer noted that the saddle tank gave added insulation to the

boiler in cold winter weather – presumably this feature would have been needed more in Scotland rather

than in the sunny climes of Australia ! No 2604 was the last of its type in regular service but fortunately

classmates Nos 2605 & 2606 have been preserved.

DOLLY’S PROGRESS (Photos Julian Pereira)

Latest news from Creighton is that their wheel drop jack has now been restored and will be installed in the

new pit as soon as possible. At that point they will be able to remove the driving wheels from our 19D No

2767. A meeting has been held with a specialist locomotive repair firm who are confident that the driving

wheels can be re-profiled and they have quoted a figure of around £1,000 per pair.

A sum of £4,000 is therefore urgently needed to make the driving wheels roadworthy but if this can be

raised then the locomotive will be well on the way to steaming again. In the meantime, a pair of curved

‘Saiccor No 3’ nameplates have been ordered to fit above the cabside numbers and these should be ready

soon. Donations towards the restoration costs for this superb locomotive are urgently needed and it would be

great to see No 2767 in steam again soon.

The value of the engine will be greatly increased when it is in working order so we have decided to release

another forty £100 Shares to help pay for the re-profiling. These can be made available in instalments if

required and of course donations of any amount will be very gratefully received. Apologies if I seem to have

been focussing on fund raising a little too much this month but we are keen to move forward and we can

only do this with your help. A massive vote of thanks once again to everyone who has got us this far.

More news to follow next month, Best Regards, Ken

Newsletter published by the NBL Preservation Group Ltd, Company Registration Number 7508287

x A Not for Profit Organisation

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MEMBERSHIP & INFORMATION

If you would like to comment on our preservation activities or would like further information on any of our

projects, please contact our Secretary Ken Livermore by letter or by e:mail. NBL related Photos can be

uploaded direct to our Facebook page at : https://www.facebook.com/NorthBritishLocomotives

New Members and Supporters are always welcome and funds are urgently needed for all our projects. Please

join us and help to preserve North British locomotives from around the World. Our Website Address is :

www.nbloco.co.uk Please send items for the website to Dave Fox at : webmaster@nbloco.co.uk

Remember, there is no annual Membership Fee, just a one-off joining fee of £10 which will give you

regular news updates and the option to participate in our locomotive preservation projects. All donations and

membership fees will be acknowledged in writing. For further details, please email our Hon. Secretary :

ken.livermore@btinternet.com

If you would like to join us or make a donation, please complete the form below and send it to : Ken

Livermore, Hon. Secretary, NBL Preservation Group, 4 Porchfield Close, Earley, Reading, Berks,

RG6 5YZ. Alternatively, you can make a direct Bank Transfer to the NBL Preservation Group, Barclays

Bank, Account Number 03113302 Sort Code 20-71-03 (please email to advise if you use this option)

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NORTH BRITISH LOCOMOTIVE PRESERVATION GROUP

A NOT FOR PROFIT ORGANISATION

MEMBERSHIP / DONATION FORM

NAME :

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ADDRESS :

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TELEPHONE NUMBER :

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E:MAIL ADDRESS :

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ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP JOINING FEE (Optional) : £10

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DONATION TO HENDRIE 1301 TRANSPORT FUND : £

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DONATION TO ENGINE 61662 APPEAL (or SHARES @ £25) : £

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DONATION TO 19D 2767 RESTORATION COSTS : £

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SHARES IN 19D 2767 (AT £100 PER SHARE) : £

TOTAL ENCLOSED : £

All donations, loans and subscriptions will be acknowledged, thank you for your interest and support.

Please make cheques or orders for Donations or Membership payable to ‘NBL Preservation Group’

**Please make Cheques for Shares in Engine 61662 payable to ‘Engine 61662 Appeal’ thank you.