Restoration of Locomotive 34010 'Sidmouth'

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I made the following comment recently, under the Topic for 34072 '257 Squadron':

The Good News is that there is a 'now or never' opportunity (after the completion of '257 Squadron') for Bulleid Pacific 'West Country Class' 34010 'Sidmouth' to be Restored to full operational condition, provided that there is sufficient interest (and the money coming in!). The Frames are at the Swanage Railway and the Boiler is at the Severn Valley Railway (who have used it as a 'template' for their Restoration of 34027 'Taw Valley').


There has now been an 'official' announcement on the Southern Locomotives Ltd website, as follows:

Southern Locomotives may soon start the restoration of its last Bulleid Pacific, 34010 Sidmouth. New Chairman Simon Troy made the unexpected announcement at the company's AGM in Swanage on 24th October. The company is making a detailed study of the loco's components and how a major restoration project will affect the scheduled overhauls of the current operational fleet.

In outline, when it has completed the current overhaul of 34072 257 Squadron the company may turn its attention to its oldest ex-BR loco, which has lain in pieces for much of the time since its withdrawal in 1965.

"It is now or never if we're going to bring Sidmouth back into steam. With the completion of 34072 we will have five locos in revenue earning service. The SLL team are not getting any younger, but we have one more big project within us and we are minded to take up the challenge.
"There's never an ideal time to fit a major restoration into a stream of overhauls, but we're ready to do it with the support of our shareholders."

34010 Sidmouth waited 17 years at Woodham's scrap yard before being bought for preservation.

34010 then spent a further 15 years at Grosmont on NYMR awaiting restoration.

At present the company is canvassing support from its shareholders and other stakeholders; a major restoration will inevitably cost more than an overhaul, and it will impact the overhaul schedule for Eddystone and possibly Manston. The major components still exist and there's nothing that can't be sourced or made new.

The company expects to make a decision before Christmas.

I am very keen for this Restoration to go ahead and complete a magnificent 'stable' of Bulleid Pacifics for future Generations to enjoy.

PW

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Breaking News: Yes, the Restoration of 'West Country Class' 'Sidmouth' is to go ahead, after the completion of 'Battle of Britain Class' '257 Squadron'. We are going to be busy!

PW

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Please use the link below to see some more news on 'Sidmouth' in the first section of the Southern Locomotives Ltd 'Latest News' for January 2016:

http://www.southern-locomotives.co.uk/News/news.html

PW

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Southern Locomotives Ltd have posted a fascinating short Video: 'SIDMOUTH RETURNS!' on their website. This has been produced by Nick Dodson who runs Statesman Rail and RailFilms and happens to live close to Sidmouth in Devon. When he heard that SLL were embarking on the Restoration of Steam Locomotive 34010 'Sidmouth' he got in touch with SLL to offer his video-making skills to create a promotional video.

Some of the source material came from SLL's photo galleries. They also found two rarely seen clips of 'Sidmouth' running in the 1960's, while the dialogue was shot 'on location' in Sidmouth and Herston.



PW

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Unfortunately, there has had to be an unexpected change of plans for 'Sidmouth. Below is an extract from a recent Post under the Overhaul of Locomotive 34072 '257 Squadron' Topic:

................... due to the ongoing situation with the Boiler for 'Battle of Britain Class' 34072 '257 Squadron', priority is now being given to the overhaul of 'West Country Class' 34028 'Eddystone'. Therefore, many of the above photos are applicable to 'Eddystone' (plus some for 'West Country Class' 34010 'Sidmouth'). However, to make things simple, I intend keeping Updates for all of these three Bulleid 'Pacifics' under this same Topic.

'Eddystone' is now virtually ready to be moved by road to the 'South Devon Railway', for the Boiler Lift and for them to carry out the Boiler Overhaul. The remaining 'Rolling Chassis' will then be sent to Tyseley Works, where work will be carried out on the Axle Boxes and Frames.

The plan is for 'Eddystone' to be in operation in 2018, to take over from 'Battle of Britain Class' 34070 'Manston' which is due to be withdrawn then, for overhaul, at the end of its 10 year Boiler 'ticket'.

Some useful work associated with 'Sidmouth' will still be carried out (and some has been carried out already) and photos of which will continue to posted (for the time being) under the '257 Squadron' Topic. However, the priority must now be to 'fast track' 'Eddystone'.

The photos for 'Sidmouth' begin from (and including) Pic 21 in my '257 Squadron' Report, dated Feb 22, 2016.

PW

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The Frames for 'Sidmouth' have, at last, been moved from the Siding, near Norden, where they have been 'resting' for several years. They have now been transported to the Southern Locomotives Ltd.'s 'South East' base, near Sellindge, Kent for de-rusting, cleaning and painting. They will then be moved back to Herston Works, Swanage for this long awaited Restoration to begin in earnest.

See the link below for the SLL December 2021 'Locomotive Overview'.

https://southern-locomotives.co.uk/3401 ... ation.html

'Watch this space' for future developments'

PW