BR Standard class 6 No. 72010 'Hengist' and Clan Discussion Thread

It does seem to be a bit temperamental. If the link above doesn't work, go to Youtube and search for "72010 Hengist". Look for a "year in review"

 

Over 5,100 views in 24 hours!

 

Well worth a view! Excellent round up of the last year and some anticipation for the year ahead.
Well produced as well. Thank you Team and best wishes for 2026, you are doing a great job.

 

Last week we took delivery of the Timken bearings for the coupled wheels. Here's the details

Key Milestone Reached as Roller Bearings Arrive for Hengist Locomotive

Six roller bearings required for the coupled wheels of the new-build BR Standard Class 6 locomotive No. 72010 Hengist have been successfully delivered to its construction base at CTL, Sheffield.

The bearings were supplied by Timken UK Ltd, based in Dudley, and represent the first delivery of three major orders placed for the locomotive’s coupled wheelsets. The tyres, are scheduled for delivery in January 2026, and the axles, due in April 2026.

Valued at £44,000, the roller bearings were manufactured by Timken UK Ltd at their purpose-built facility in Dudley, West Midlands.

These three orders mark a significant milestone in the acquisition of key components for Hengist’s wheelsets. The next major procurement will be the castings for the cannon boxes, which are planned for spring 2026.

Commenting on the delivery, Andy England, Chairman of the Hengist Project, said:

“The arrival of these bearings represents another important step forward. They will be fitted to the cast steel coupled wheels generously donated by Sir Andrew Cook, owner of William Cook Cast Products. The tyres and axles are due for delivery in January and April 2026 respectively.

“The combined cost of the bearings, tyres, and axles totals £88,000, which would not have been possible without the continued commitment and support of our members. Our focus in 2026 will be on ordering the remaining components for the wheelsets, enabling us to wheel the engine in 2027. Achieving this goal will rely on continued donations from everyone who wishes to see Hengist move closer to completion.”

Commenting on the delivery Gavin Bagley from Timken’s Dudley production facility said:

“This is the 3rd such Steam Locomotive roller bearing wheelset project that we have delivered in recent years. We had previously manufactured the coupled wheel roller bearings for the Tornado & Duke of Gloucester locomotives. Timken UK is in a unique position to support the UK Heritage Rail sector for these projects, with our ability to manufacture such legacy bearings according to their original designs but using the latest CNC production technology. We have the capability to manufacture most designs of cylindrical roller & ball bearings & can supply custom engineered bearings for new installations or obsolete bearings for older equipment, often with short lead-times.”

 

That was a quick follow-up from the previous summary of the 2025 progress! Excellent news Ian.
A Happy New Year is looking just around the corner for this project.

 

All this being followed up with news of progress on the cab construction and the cylinder patterns.
It certainly looking like 2026 could be a year of visible progress on this project.
Yes, I fully appreciate we have a long way to go yet.

 

Interesting that Timken havent mentioned P2 or B17... did they/ are they going elsewhere ?

 

According to B17 website, Timken bearings were delivered in August 2025. I have not checked P2 website, thought you would have checked that already??

 

Well their wheel sets have been assembled for some time so that would been scrolling back a piece - the quick summary doesnt say anything about the bearings other than its obviuous they are in place on the wheelsets wrapped in Cling film. They use split type cannon boxes which can be put in the wheelsets after

 

[QUOTE="class8mikado, post: 2964746, member: 5759" Well their wheel sets have been assembled for some time so that would been scrolling back a piece - the quick summary doesnt say anything about the bearings other than its obviuous they are in place on the wheelsets wrapped in Cling film. They use split type cannon boxes which can be put in the wheelsets after[/QUOTE]
OK, I have checked up myself for you! Mikado Messenger 40 (Feb 2019) states that they 'have assembled the roller bearings onto the crank and Cartazzi axles under the watchful eye of Mark Leatherland, Timken Service Engineer'. So I think that answers your question, Did they use them. Why Timken did not refer to those loc0 projects is entirely up to them.

That was an interesting little trawl thro' P2 website!

 

Guess is that both orders came from a1slt (ie Tornado) and they havent twigged, dont thin B17 have quite got round to ordering yet...

 

Check post 2808 above. They were at South Devon last August ready for assembly.

 

Just to clarify some of the comments above about the roller bearings for the B17. They were ordered in March 2022 and delivered to South Devon in September 2022.

Additionally, Sean Peat of Timken has confirmed they have now changed their statement to "We have proudly supported heritage rail in the UK, Supporting Duke of Gloucester, A1 Tornado, P2, B17 amongst others with the supply of new bearings and utilisation of our site service team to remove and refit axle bearings."

 

I saw on a fb feed (one of the new build locomotive feeds) that the driving wheel tyres have arrived. Another step forward for the team!

Quick question, the site said that the tyres came from Germany. I'm sure previous newbuilds have had to get theirs from South Africa, as it is apparently the only place that makes them. Am I misinformed, or did nobody tell the Germans they don't make them...?

 

From the Horsa’s mouth …. give them a ‘Follow’ to keep up with the latest?

 

Was that deliberate? (If so - well played!)

Tom

 

Yep - thanks for the appreciation.

 

Please kindly watch this lovely but very sad piece from Hengist CME Geoff Turner...

 

Now how do you follow that! A very good video thank you all who were involved but especially Geoff for an extra legacy on top of all that he has contributed to the project over the many years. There is no doubt that without Geoff in 2011, the project would not have continued to this present day. I look forward to seeing you at the Open Day, Geoff. Yet another instance where the 'like' button should be the 'appreciated' button, I can't possibly 'like' Geoff's diagnosis.

 

I find the sound a problem. I've followed this project but not contributed. I intend to visit the open day for the first time and look forward to viewing both locos. I must admit the Sandringham is my favourite .... maybe I might sign up to both...