Restoration report on Great Western Railway King class 4-6-0 No. 6023, at Didcot Railway Centre. This engine was derailed while at Barry scrapyard in Wales, which resulted in one rear driver rim being cut off to facilitate movement and many parts robbed for other engines. New wheels were cast, with new rods, etc. forged. Main work remaining is on the boiler. An amazing story for a once doomed locomotive. When you read these British restoration stories you just know we can do better with that rusting relic in the city park.

http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/6023_king_edward_11.html
ryarger@rypn.org

I visited Barry back in 1981, and remember seeing King Edward II there. It's amazing what they've done with some of those hulks since then. I also saw the work in progress on KEII when I visited Didcot in 1996. The new wheel set had already been installed on the engine at that point, and the cut one was on display outside the shop.

Even more impressive is the same group's "Saint" project, resurrecting a member of the extinct Great Western "Saint" class 4-6-0 using the frames and boiler from a "Hall" class engine, a large number of which were rescured from Barry. The first "Hall" was converted from a "Saint" in the 1920's, by giving the engine smaller drivers and lead truck wheels, a new cylinder block, and a few other more modern refinements. The "Saint" project is basically a reversal of that process, involving all-new wheels and cylinder block (these were completed before the donor engine Maindy Hall was dismantled for the conversion), modification of the frames, as well as restoration of the salvaged "Hall" parts from scrapyard condition.

That they can undertake such a project, while at the same time restoring the KEII (which in itself was once considered impossible), as well as a couple of more routine locomotive restorations, AND maintaining an operating fleet of steam locomotives (you'll usually find at least two in steam on any given weekend during the summer - keeping in mind that their running line is only about 1/2 a mile long), is simply incredible.

I have heard that King Edward II was on the invitee list for next year's steam fest in Baltimore, presumably to fill in for inactive sister engine King George V which was at the B&O Fair of the Iron Horse in 1927. Considering that KGV was brand-new at the '27 fair, and KEII would be newly-restored in 2003, I think it would be pretty appropriate to see her there. Of course whether she'll be done in time, and whether the Great Western Society would be willing to spend the money or take the risk to send their new toy over here if she is ready, is another matter altogether.

America's Barry (the "Lost Engines" of Roanoke)
rjenkins@railfan.net