Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0DH

Beverley

Of the three Hudswell 0-4-0DHs in Andrew's collection, this is the one that can be classed as truly 'saved' since it was about to be scrapped when Andrew stepped in.

Built in 1965 and used by the NCB at Shirebrook Colliery in Derbyshire, it had gone to the Shropshire Collection in running order but while there, rainwater had got in and seized the engine. At the time Andrew aquired "Grace" and "Claire" it was not apparently for sale, but as the plans for the former 'Shropshire collection' contracted, it came up for disposal. With worn profiles and a missing spring hanger, it was regarded by many as too much to tackle and attracted no offers. Finally one evening Andrew got a  phone call from a friend who advised him that unless it found a new owner, it would go for scrap in less than a week. That was too much for Andrew, and within 48 hours it had become the third Hudswell 0-4-0 in Andrew's burgeoning collection. Initially it was taken to Long Marston, arriving the same day that "Claire" left after restoration. Moving it was a trifle problematic, as apart from the missing spring hanger giving it a pronounced droop to the front left, the fact that the air brakes had been fully applied and the hand brake wound up "on top" when last run (a practice that is actually bad for the handbrake linkage) meant that the brakes could not be released except by moving the loco over a pit and releasing the adjusters! Dragging the loco with brakes applied was both noisy and inconvenient.

"Beverley" did not stay long at Long Marston - a home for it had been agreed at the Middleton Railway, as a good example of a 'modern' Leeds-built machine in comparison to the older Hudswells they already possessed. Thus with brakes released but still with seized engine and missing spring hanger, "Beverley" travelled north, stopping though at the big EWS depot at Toton (between Nottingham and Derby), and thus becoming the first of Andrew's locos to receive a reprofile. In Leeds the engine was removed and rebuilt with new liners and rings. A new spring hanger was forged in Rotherham and machined at Middleton, rectifying the 'lean'. When Middleton professed an interest in having 'Grace' from Andrew instead, 'Beverley' moved to the AFRPS at Scunthorpe where most of the paintwork has been progressed. The locomotive was largely rewired whilst in Leeds, but more of this has been completed at Scunthorpe, while a new fluid-to-air transmission cooler is being fitted and the converter changed to separate oil medium rather than fuel. Eventually vacuum braking will be installed to aid operation with passenger trains.

At Frodingham station, Scunthorpe, on a test run before painting commenced.

More photographs can be found in the Gallery section, here