A Bad Time for Number 9. When your worse Fears are Realised!

The 16th August 2015 turned out to be a long shift for the crew of 60009 Union of South Africa and as documented in this compilation, a steam locomotive failing a long way from base can take a long time to repair even when excellent facilities are within easy reach and the problem straightforward.

Hauling the Royal Duchy away from Taunton everything seemed fine as speed increased through Allerford in preparation for the climb through Wellington to Whiteball but a longer than scheduled stop at Dawlish Warren then a crawl along the sea wall to an unscheduled stop at Dawlish started to ring alarm bells with those of us at the lineside. This was confirmed later at Newton Abbot when a more thorough inspection revealed overheating bearings on the main driving wheelset.

As the train continued it’s journey to Plymouth diesel hauled, 60009 was allowed to cool off whilst arrangements were made between Crewe Heritage and the South Devon Railway Engineering workshops at Buckfastleigh, not an easy thing to do on a Sunday! But credit goes to all involved as we find 60009 safely over the wheel-pit the very next day, a rare treat for all S.D.R. staff and public alike.

Luckily for me, there was at that time a public viewing galley (now long gone due to H&S concerns) which enabled me to capture progress over the ensuing days then post updates temporarily on YouTube as a VBlog. Throughout her stay at Buckfastleigh, 60009’s crew remained with her working with engineers from the S.D.R. and Crewe Heritage.

Thursday 3rd. September (18 days after failing) all work is complete and the fire lit to produce the most atmospheric of images bringing to mind the work of Terrence Cuneo and David Shepherd !

Finally a “Grande Departe” from Totnes by a much missed star of the mainline and a job well done!

Chapters:
0:00 Mainline failure
3:24 S.D.R.E. works
5:56 Return to the mainline

The original Royal Duchy upload is here:
   • 60009 Union of South Africa “so far, ...