Major progress on return of 7802 Bradley Manor

The delivery of new cylinders for 7802 Bradley Manor moves its return to service on the Severn Valley Railway one huge step closer.

The cylinders and associated parts are now at Tyseley Locomotive Works where further work followed by testing and fitting to 7802 will be undertaken.

This development, which will require removal of the cab roof and boiler plus a complete rebuild of the front end of the locomotive, is a enormous boost for the whole project, which has been beset by many challenges including a foundry closure, Covid lockdowns, machine breakdowns and transport delays

The repair, involving complete replacement of the locomotive’s cylinders, was made necessary due to extensive damage resulting from the failure in service of the right hand piston rod whilst working on the West Somerset Railway in 2019.

Terry Jenkins, EMF’s Trustee in charge of the project, has paid tribute to all the support the Fund has received, ranging from GWS Didcot in providing the original GWR Swindon drawings for the parts to the advice from Bob and Alastair Meanley of TLW and Mike Solloway ( Contract Engineer) and the wide array of suppliers in getting the cylinders to the point of delivery.

The cylinders were first 3d modelled by Stafford Road Design Ltd, polystyrene patterns were made by Premier Patterns and the cylinders were cast by Shakespeare Foundry. Heat treatment of the cast cylinders to stress relieve the castings was carried out by Thermofax Heat Treatment Ltd and then machining was undertaken by Roach Precision Engineering Ltd. New valve liners were also machined by Roach using material provided by Abbey Spuncast.

Bradley Manor is owned by Erlestoke Manor Fund, which also owns 7812 Erlestoke Manor, itself currently at Tyseley for complete overhaul.