Taken 16/02/19: earlier in the day and along with Eastleigh another temporary terminus. Bridge work between M&4M and Alton means that until July services will terminate at M&4M.
According to the Mid-Hants website; "The British Railways Standard 4 2-6-0, nick named ‘Moguls’, were based on an earlier Ivatt LMS design known as ‘flying pigs’. Over 115 of the Standard 4 Moguls were built between 1952 and 1957 at Horwich and Doncaster locomotive works.
76017 was completed in June 1953 at Horwich and was allocated from new to the Southern Region, based at Eastleigh Shed. While there she performed freight, semi fast or all stopping turns to Southampton and Bournemouth.
In 23rd September 1954 while working the 7:00am Banbury to Eastleigh goods, the driver lost control, and 76017 ran through the catch point and down the embankment. No one was hurt and 76017 was rescued by the Eastleigh and Fratton cranes, this being reported at the time in the Hampshire Chronicle.
76017 moved from Eastleigh to Salisbury in February 1960 where she stayed until withdrawal in July 1965."
Taken 16/02/19: earlier in the day and along with Eastleigh another temporary terminus. Bridge work between M&4M and Alton means that until July services will terminate at M&4M.
According to the Mid-Hants website; "The British Railways Standard 4 2-6-0, nick named ‘Moguls’, were based on an earlier Ivatt LMS design known as ‘flying pigs’. Over 115 of the Standard 4 Moguls were built between 1952 and 1957 at Horwich and Doncaster locomotive works.
76017 was completed in June 1953 at Horwich and was allocated from new to the Southern Region, based at Eastleigh Shed. While there she performed freight, semi fast or all stopping turns to Southampton and Bournemouth.
In 23rd September 1954 while working the 7:00am Banbury to Eastleigh goods, the driver lost control, and 76017 ran through the catch point and down the embankment. No one was hurt and 76017 was rescued by the Eastleigh and Fratton cranes, this being reported at the time in the Hampshire Chronicle.
76017 moved from Eastleigh to Salisbury in February 1960 where she stayed until withdrawal in July 1965."
Taken on 16/02/19; a day when a few timings fell neatly into place. The snow at the start of February meant the G3 15K at Guildford was postponed until the 16th, which coincidentally was the day services recommenced on the Mid-Hants. On the drive back from Guildford, I stopped at M&4M as No. 76017 was waiting to depart and then managed to get to Ropley in time to see No. 41312 arrive. All that was left was a brief stop at Eastleigh and then on to home!
No. 41312
41312 was built at Crewe in 1952 and was first based at Faversham, then Ashford in May 1959, before being moved to Barnstaple Junction in January 1960 where it worked over the Torrington branch, putting in some appearances on the Ilfracombe and Exeter line.
In March 1963 it was reallocated to Brighton where it spent a year before moving on to Bournemouth where it worked over the Swanage and Lymington branches. 41312 performed the last steam service on the Lymington branch in April 1967. The last 3 months of its career were spent at Nine Elms acting as a station shunter for Waterloo. It was finally withdrawn from service on the 3rd July 1967 and sold to Woodham Brothers at Barry for scrap.
It arrived at the scrapyard in January 1968 and stayed there until August 1974 when it was acquired by the Caerphilly Railway Society.
41312 was then bought by John Jones in 1995 and moved to Ropley, Mid-Hants Railway for its major overhaul.
It was in steam by 2000 and operated until withdrawn for a ten-year major overhaul in 2009.
After being out of service for a number of years 41312 is currently under overhaul on the Mid Hants Railway. The boiler had a successful steam test in October 2015 and the locomotive is now in service again on the Mid Hants Railway.
Taken on 16/02/19; a day when a few timings fell neatly into place. The snow at the start of February meant the G3 15K at Guildford was postponed until the 16th, which coincidentally was the day services recommenced on the Mid-Hants. On the drive back from Guildford, I stopped at M&4M as No. 76017 was waiting to depart and then managed to get to Ropley in time to see No. 41312 arrive. All that was left was a brief stop at Eastleigh and then on to home!
No. 41312
41312 was built at Crewe in 1952 and was first based at Faversham, then Ashford in May 1959, before being moved to Barnstaple Junction in January 1960 where it worked over the Torrington branch, putting in some appearances on the Ilfracombe and Exeter line.
In March 1963 it was reallocated to Brighton where it spent a year before moving on to Bournemouth where it worked over the Swanage and Lymington branches. 41312 performed the last steam service on the Lymington branch in April 1967. The last 3 months of its career were spent at Nine Elms acting as a station shunter for Waterloo. It was finally withdrawn from service on the 3rd July 1967 and sold to Woodham Brothers at Barry for scrap.
It arrived at the scrapyard in January 1968 and stayed there until August 1974 when it was acquired by the Caerphilly Railway Society.
41312 was then bought by John Jones in 1995 and moved to Ropley, Mid-Hants Railway for its major overhaul.
It was in steam by 2000 and operated until withdrawn for a ten-year major overhaul in 2009.
After being out of service for a number of years 41312 is currently under overhaul on the Mid Hants Railway. The boiler had a successful steam test in October 2015 and the locomotive is now in service again on the Mid Hants Railway.
Taken 16/02/19; despite approaching the end of its boiler certificate it looks to my inexpert eye as though the 9F has recently had some copper tubing replaced. I've cobbled together a history of No. 92212 from the M-HR website and from the Preserved British Steam Locomotives website:
No. 92212
The British Railways Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 was designed for BR by Robert Riddles. The 9F’s were the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for BR during the 1950s, and was intended for use on fast, heavy freight trains over long distances. It was one of the most powerful locomotive types ever constructed in Britain and successfully performed its intended duties.
At various times during the 1950s, the 9Fs worked passenger trains with great success, indicating the versatility of the design, considered to represent the ultimate in British steam development. Several variants were constructed for experimentation purposes in an effort to reduce costs and maintenance, although these met with varying degrees of success. The total number built was 251, production being shared between Swindon (53) and Crewe Works (198). The last of the class, 92220 Evening Star, was the final steam locomotive to be built by BR, in 1960. Withdrawals began in 1964, with the final locomotives removed from service in 1968. Several examples have survived into the preservation era in varying states of repair, including Evening Star.
The 9F was designed at both Derby and Brighton Works in 1951 to operate freight trains of up to 900 tons (914 tonnes) at 35 mph (56 km/h) with maximum fuel efficiency. The original proposal was for a boiler from the BR Standard Class 7 Britannia 4-6-2, adapting it to a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement, but Riddles eventually settled upon a 2-10-0 type because it had been successfully utilised on some of his previous Austerity locomotives; distributing the adhesive weight over five axles gave a maximum axle load of only 15 tons, 10 cwt. However, in order to clear the rear coupled wheels the grate had to be set higher, thus reducing firebox volume.
There were many problems associated with locomotives of such a long wheelbase, but these were solved by the design team through a series of compromises. The driving wheels were 5 feet 0 inches (1.5 m) in diameter, and the centre driving wheels were without flanges, whilst those on the second and fourth coupled wheels were reduced in depth. This enabled the locomotive to round curves of a radius as small as 400 feet (120 m). 92212 returns following heavy overhaul and carries the Bath Green Park (82F) shed code where she was based for a short period in 1961. Whilst there she worked over the Somerset & Dorset hauling trains such as the ‘Pines Express’.
It was withdrawn from service in January 1968 and sold to Woodham Brother as scrap and arrived in the yard at Barry in September 1968. It left Barry in September 1979 after being there for eleven years.
It was bought from Woodham Brothers for £10,000 by 92212 Holdings Ltd, and moved to the Great Central Railway at Loughborough in September 1979. Prior to this a group of prospective owners had contacted the Severn Valley Railway (SVR) in 1976 with a view to basing the locomotive on the SVR.
The restoration of 92212 was completed at Loughborough in September 1996.
It was hired by the SVR for the winter of 2001 and again for the summer of 2011.
92212 was later purchased by Jeremy Hosking whilst the locomotive was being overhauled on the Mid Hants Railway where it is now based.
It returned to service on the Mid Hants Railway in September 2011 but was then hired by the Bluebell railway to provide cover whilst that railway was short of operating locomotives.
In 2013 92212 returned to the Mid Hants Railway.
The boiler certificate will expire in June 2019 after which the boiler will be overhauled at Crewe and fitted with the boiler from No. 92245with the aim in having the locomotive back in steam quickly.