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TVR 28 was built by the Taff Vale Railway Company in May 1897 at West Yard Works, Cardiff. It is a class '01' 0-6-2 mixed traffic tank engine and as a result of the groupings of 1922, was handed over to the Great Western Railway to become No.450. At its handover point in 1922, the loco had a recorded mileage of 483,189. The engine was withdrawn from service in 1926 and in the following year passed on to the Longmoor Military Railway where it was named Gordon and renumbered WD205.
A the end of the Second World War the engine was again sold, this time to the South Hetton Colliery in County Durham. Nationalisation of the coal industry brought about another number change, this time becoming No.67 of the National Coal Board. The NCB rebuilt the locomotive in 1955 and it was eventually withdrawn from service in February 1960.
TVR 28 was first donated to the British Railways Board (WR) by the NCB, then moved to Caerphilly Works. This unfortunately closed and on the 24th June 1963 the loco moved to Swindon. Eighteen months later TVR 28 was on its way again, this time to be stored at Stratford in London, following custody of the locomotive being given to the National Museum of Wales as part of the National Collection.
In 1967 the loco returned to Caerphilly Works which by this time had been taken over by South Wales Switchgear Ltd. The reason for the move appears to have been to place it on display until 1971. The locomotive again faced an uncertain future. However, the newly formed Caerphilly Railway Society, its members working in less than ideal conditions, managed to complete the restoration and return TVR 28 to steam during 1983 - some 20 years after its donation to the British Railways Board.
On May 16th 1996 the loco moved to its new home at the Dean Forest Railway, on loan from the National Railway Museum, into the safe keeping of the Dean Forest Railway Society.
A small committee was set up to manage a restoration programme and eventually the long job of dismantling the locomotive began in June 1997. This was completed on November 11 1997 when a crane was hired to lift the boiler from its frame and the frame from its wheels.
Quotations were obtained to machine the wheels' tyres, the axle bearing journals and the outside coupling rod crankpins. These components went to Swindon Locomotive Carriage & Wagon Works in December 1997 and were returned to Norchard in May 1998. Successful fund raising via the DFR Society's annual prize draw enabled the next stage of restoration to be undertaken. This involved a difficult overhaul of the axle boxes, horn guides and horn ties with work carried out by the Swindon Railway workshop at Bream, near Lydney. In the meantime the frames, boiler and wheels were sandblasted, then painted where no further work was required.
The axle boxes proved to be a very expensive item, considerably exceeding the original budget. This work was completed by midsummer 1999 and attention then turned to the loco's springs. Disaster! ...they proved to be beyond repair. Brand new springs needed to be manufactured and fitted.
Although it had been intended to return TVR28 to steam in 2000, the programme was delayed by lack of volunteer labour and later by ongoing negotiations with the National Railway Museum over application for grant aid. These negotiations at present continue with the possibility of another partner joining the restoration programme.
The TVR 28 restoration team sincerly thanks everyone who has purchased prize draw tickets and donated monies in aid of the fund-raising appeal. |
