Boiler Returns

Friday, 15th September, 2017

This press release was sent out today:

The Bury Standard 4 Group has received an early Christmas present with the return of the repaired boiler for their steam loco. The boiler has undergone a major overhaul which comprised of a complete new boiler barrel, a new lower throat plate section, new ¾ outer firebox sides, extensive copper welding to the firebox tubeplate and re-assembly.

The whole boiler repair, which was carried out by Northern Steam Engineering at Stockton on Tees, took two and a half years and has cost more than £100,000.

Now that the boiler has been returned, the Group will be able to continue with the restoration of their ex British Rail Standard Class 4 mt steam loco number 80097. The loco, which was built in 1954 and retired in 1965 when British Rail modernised to diesel and electric locomotives, spent nearly twenty years in a scrapyard in Barry, Wales before being rescued by the Group in 1985 and brought back to the East Lancashire Railway in Bury. Restoration work has steadily progressed by the Group of volunteers for over thirty years since then.

The Bury Standard 4 Group now aims for loco 80097 to be running on the East Lancashire Railway in 2018.

Pictures are:    The boiler arriving back at Bury

                         Lifting the boiler into 80097

                         The loco and boiler together again