Andrew Barclay

If you're looking at major boiler work and work on the wheels and motion it's going to run into quite a substantial amount. A recent boiler overhaul on a similar sized loco came in at around £30,000 for the professional work, not including the volunteer time, and that was just for cracks in the backhead flange welded, firebox replaced and restayed and a D patch in the barrel. If you're adding in new motion, bearings and tyres even a small industrial could well run to 6 figures. My advice is, unless you have a bottomless fund, find a project that's at least got all its motion and some meat left on the tyres. Boilers are no longer the most expensive part of an overhaul when you start looking at manufacturing new motion parts.

 

I think Stuart said he was planning an interim restoration of the saloon underframe as a flat wagon. It might then be a useful platform for bits of the Barclay.

 

money found in dribs and drabs in far more manageable and we don't know Stuart's circumstances. He is well off enough to have bought the two vehicles and may be more able to fund the project than most of us would be. A better loco would of course cost a lot more to buy

 

the thing is to not try to run before you can walk, small steps, fund raise for a stage at a time, i think the best idea is to do it a step at a time, if you don't have use of a crane, you can still jack and pack the wheels out, then you can get on with the frames, needle gun then paint, check the horn guides, if you need to do any riveting repairs, etc, do it when the frames are stripped and down to bare metal, that should not cost much more than the cost of the tools and power, and if you are making visable progress, its easier to raise funds, plus you are learning the skills you will need, needle gunning frames , is a good way to learn the best way to remove rust, and at a further stage you will need the same skills if you have to do further prep work on the boiler proir to having the riveting done, you also learn a good lesson in project management, how to ensure you match the work you can do, to the funds availible at that time, so you dont grind to a stop, for instance, if you need to have axleboxes re metaled , ensure you can still carry on with work elsewhere.

 

Whilst it is true that a more complete loco would cost more initially the costs of a major restoration such as this one can be much higher than purchasing a complete loco. From what I understand this loco is not much more than a set of frames and wheels with some component parts of a boiler. It's not a simple overhaul as it requires many parts to be sourced/manufactured. Being involved in a restoration with similar issues I would much rather have saved up some more and found a more complete loco to start with!

 

But where's the challenge in that? Sometimes it's the difficult projects which provide the very motivation we need to get on with things. Personally I would not have touched that saloon underframe with a barge pole, but the Barclay sounds like a perfectly feasible project, albeit a money pit. I don't know the guy but good luck to him.

 

I doubt if the boiler off this engine is much bigger than some traction engines, and the owners of traction engines certainly don't seem to be daunted by making new steel boilers and fireboxes. It's probably better to look for someone with experience of re-boxing a road locomotive than look within railway preservation circles, where this sort of seems to be almost entirely contracted out.

 

yes I agree but he's bought it now and I'm trying to encourage him. For all we know there could be a container of parts coming with it

 

My advice for the initial steps would be to get your own personal secure storage with the toughest padlock and hasp you can find. Make sure it has a good firm floor and erect industrial shelving and lighting with storage bins and a good supply of labels, marker pens, and number stamps. Take any non-ferrous items home even so. Make sure that you and anyone helping you are properly covered by insurance.

 

It would be interesting if Stuart would enlighten us as to what exactly is completely missing. I know the previous owner bought 2352 to provide spares for its restored sister 2354 "Richard Trevithick" but as he intended ultimately to also restore 2352 any swapped parts were presumably retained and hopefully given to Stuart with the engine.

The Tanat Valley should be an undemanding home for it so talk of re-tyring is probably a bit over the top and the 4 axle boxes and 2 big ends are hopefully the only really crucial bearings needing full refurbishing. Of course the elephant in the room is that boiler and firebox - there are no short cuts there.

 

Axle boxes and wheels and tyres are good , crosshead, slide bars , motions , inner firebox and tube plate , smokebox and door , tubes, cab fitting , that's all I know of so far.

 

you mean you have all those items or are missing them?

 

All that from cross head to cab fitting are missing

 

2352 is the loco that was plinthed at Rocester in Staffordshire near JCB in the 70s/80s and, if I recall correctly, had it's inner firebox and part of the outer box cut out along with lots of other parts removed, so I would assume that most of that list is missing parts. It's a huge task to take on and I hope you are successful in your venture Stuart.

 

Have any identical locos been scrapped or dismantled and the parts just discarded at any preservation sites? it way be worth asking via an industrial loco site who has what spares, someone may possibly have the parts you are looking for , or can point you in the right direction, this is i assume another engine not expected to survive as it was purchased as a source of spares for another engine by the previous engine, a lot of what i said previously holds though, have a realist restoration plan, do the easy , unskilled bits first to learn how to do the more involved bits, and remain focused don't start it, think its too hard and go onto something else, we, the movement , are actually quite helpfull, but if i can be honest with you Stuart, you have to now proove you are serious about this, in the past you did yourself damage with getting involved in what some would call harebrained schemes, i'm hopeful that this is now behind you, and that you proove the doubters wrong
you will have more than enough to do with sourcing missing parts, fund raising, if anything , it should keep you away from facebook for a while

 

Yes all the "as some on here have said " pipe dream" ideas are behind me and my aim is to prove the doubters wrong and build my credibility up

Short term aim is to cosmetically restore her while looking or creating the missing parts before I fund things like the boiler.

Unfortunately it still won't keep me away from Facebook due to some of the people helping or advising me are on there.

 

don't forget there are a lot of very good people on here who will be willing to offer you sound advice, i would say, any ideas you may be given, just run it past some of the industrial loco owners on here also, just so you are sure, that you are being given sound advise, much of it is basic heavy engineering, and label up everything you remove, take pictures if you have to, ask for pictures of missing parts, so you know how it goes on, it may sound simple, but any person who has taken an engine to bits will tell you the same, by the time it comes to re fit it you are thinking how did this go on ? remember some parts may look the same, but are not, you may be offered a part, be told yes its for x class, i would get a photo database, of the class of loco, ask other loco owners can i look over your engine, take photos, get drawings , it will pay dividends in the end.

 

I can think of two good reasons to take on a project of this scale
(1) If someone didn't fall for this little loco and restore it as a labour of love, there's a good chance it would end up as spares
(2) If Stuart can pull this off, the learning experience will be second only to building such a loco from scratch.

Recall several locos once regarded as 'no-hopers' have successfully returned to steam, in at least one case (a certain Quarry Hunslet), by a lady with no previous experience.

There are always nay-sayers.....I'm not one of them and wish Stuart every success with this venture.