TYSELEY Locomotive Works (TLW) is adding a fourth ‘Castle’ to its allocation after an agreement was reached for the Birmingham workshop to complete the restoration of Jonathan Jones-Pratt’s No. 7027 Thornbury Castle.
The BR(W) 4-6-0 was expected to arrive in the West Midlands at the end of August following its appearance at the August 23-27 Great Dorset Steam Fair, for which Mr Jones-Pratt had given the partially dismantled loco a coat of paint.
No. 7027’s arrival will enable it to take part in Tyseley’s 50th anniversary open weekend on September 29-30 when it will line up alongside the former 84E’s three resident ‘7Ps’ – 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, 5080 Defiant and 7029 Clun Castle (see separate story – right).
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Built by British Railways at Swindon in 1949, Thornbury Castle has yet to turn a wheel under its own steam in preservation. Having been withdrawn in 1963, it passed through a succession of owners until acquired by Mr Jones-Pratt’s JJP Holdings South West Ltd in 2016.
The restoration will be managed by TLW’s Alastair Meanley, with support of Kinlet Hall & Thornbury Castle Ltd volunteers, under the guidance of Mike Solloway.
All ancillary components from the loco have already moved from its former home in Weston-super-Mare to Tyseley, although work is not expected to begin on the ‘Castle’ until the overhaul of
Mr Jones-Pratt’s other GWR
4-6-0 – No. 4936 Kinlet Hall – has been finished. This nut-and-bolt project is expected to be completed in time for a return to steam in April 2019.
Read more in the September issue of The RM – on sale now!
