Category: Enthusiasts’ News

We are delighted to announce that GWR Collett 0-4-2T no 1450 will be visiting the SDR in April 2019 as part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations!

Originally numbered 4850, the loco was built in 1935 to lot number 288 and first entered service at Oxford in July 1935. She was re-numbered 1450 by the GWR in 1946 and re-allocated to Slough in April 1951. A return to Oxford in September 1959 was followed by further re-allocations to Exeter (July 1962), Taunton (November 1963) and Yeovil Town (October 1964) before a final move to Exmouth Junction in February 1965. 1450 was finally withdrawn from service by BR in May 1965, after a working life totalling 823,012 miles.

1450 spent her early life in preservation at our line (the then Dart Valley Railway). She was eventually purchased from here and re-located to the Dean Forest Railway, and then the Severn Valley Railway in March 2014. Over the winter of 2017-18 the loco was returned to GWR livery, for the remainder of its current boiler ticket.

1450 is often paired with the same owner’s autocoaches, nos 178 and 238, which are also resident on the SVR. We are delighted to say that chocolate-and-cream liveried no 178 will be joining 1450 at the SDR for the duration of its visit, brining us a step closer to the ambition to operate a 4-coach auto train as part of the 2019 celebrations!

1450 will be joining 6430 from Llangollen, as well as the SDR home fleet. Keep your eyes glued to SDR news for further announcements in future!

Thank you to everyone who has worked hard to arrange the attendance of 1450 to the SDR, including our friends at the Severn Valley, and we are all looking forward to seeing 1450, a loco with a lots of SDR heritage, at Buckfastleigh next year!

[Photo above by Rob Sherwood at 1450’s last visit to the SDR.] Text edited from SVR Wiki

We are delighted to announce, thanks to our friends at the Llangollen Railway, that 6430 is the first confirmed visiting locomotive for the Golden Anniversary Steam Gala, 6-14 April 2019!

Above: 6412 hauls 6430 across Exeter West Junction on their way to the Dart Valley Railway in June 1966.

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6430 was built at Swindon in 1937 and spent most of its working life in South Wales. It was withdrawn from its final shed, Yeovil, in October 1964 and sold to John Cashmore Ltd as scrap, but immediately re-sold to the Dart Valley Railway as a source of spares for 6412 and 6435. It was towed to Buckfastleigh by 6412 in June 1966.

Throughout much of its time on the Dart Valley Railway, 6430 was out of sight, painted in red oxide primer, which turned progressively more pink with age and wear. Eventually, with no hope of her being restored, she was put up for sale. It was bought in 1990 and spent some time undergoing restoration at Long Marston MOD depot, along with 5199, before moving to Llangollen in 1996.

The loco had unfortunately lost many parts to other engines. Repairs to its cracked cylinder blocks were tackled by the SVR during 1996, and new pannier tanks were fabricated and fitted at Llangollen. Manufacture of new axleboxes and re-wheeling took place in April 1998. New motion parts, coupling and connecting rods were cast and machined to size, whilst other parts were found elsewhere and purchased. A major problem was the badly corroded state of the boiler, which necessitated a completely new boiler barrel being made and fitted to the existing smokebox and firebox.

6430 first moved under its own steam came in December 2003. Work to finish of the locomotive continued, and it undertook a successful trial run along the whole length of the Llangollen Railway in February 2004.

Source: https://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/6430-2/

We all look forward to greeting 6430 next year!