By August the big ends were knocking badly and the crosshead cotters had become loose, so the big ends were remetalled and cotters replaced ahead of the repair scheduled for the winter. At about the same time the vacuum[…]

Over the winter the tender right hand leading axlebox was re-metalled after it ran hot undetected, probably during the 2015 Santa running. In March there was another failure of the piston rings and snap rings. The valve cover bushes[…]

In October 2857 paid a visit to the West Somerset Railway for their Gala. Suffice to say everyone had a very pleasant time in Minehead, with the locomotive performing well and pleasing the crowds. With the use of both[…]

After another big mileage season in 2014, the locomotive was beginning to show the signs of wear and tear in places. This is not surprising with another 10,500 miles racked up last year. The rear driving boxes had begun[…]

It was 12 Months ago we reported 2857 was the highest mileage locomotive on the SVR for 2013. She completed nearly 11,000 miles last year, and she’s not far off this year either! With 7000 miles racked up by[…]

Winter Maintenance, that has been the main focus of the past few months. The broken spring that was replaced pre-Christmas obviously had friends who wished to be replaced with it, since both a loco spring and tender spring failed[…]

Following re-entry in to service, 2857 has proved to be a reliable old workhorse at the SVR. She has attained the highest mileage of the SVR fleet, covering well over 7500 miles to date. This figure is anticipated to[…]

After a steady spell in service during the last autumn in early December the loco was failed after a regular washout exam. A crack was found in one of the main steam pipes between the regulator and the superheater[…]

2857 suffered a severe valve failure on the evening of Friday 7th August 2012. On approaching Arley in the ‘up’ direction the valve events started to become uneven. Upon reaching Arley the driver (Duncan Ballard) examined the locomotive. No[…]

After quite a few attempts to rectify some very silly leaks which should not have occurred, the decision was taken on 20th April 2012 to lift the boiler out of the frames. The decision to remove the boiler from[…]