August Update

We have had  a number of visits of groups of young people, courtesy of the National Lottery Heritage Fund grant. with more groups scheduled for this year and next .

One of those groups was The Brockworth Youth Club

Almost all of the group had never been on a train, let alone a steam hauled Train. To read more about their visit go to https://2874trust.org/latest-news/group-visits/

The Cab 

Work progresses on the cab, mainly courtesy of Paul and Ian as you will see from the photos.  It is a slow job and some of the detail is not available from drawings, thus Ian, Paul, David F and Sky went on a fact finding tour to look at 2818. Thanks to the everybody at Steam - The Museum of The Great Western Railway at Swindon (https://www.steam-museum.org.uk/) for their help and continued support.  Another example of the class is 2859 - currently awaiting overhaul on the Severn Valley railway - we have arranged a visit to examine and measure some of the parts on this one later this month.  As not all of the original build drawings are available these visits are extremely useful to gather as much information as we can.

The Boiler

Slow steady progress is being made. Large sections of the side sheets have been removed and we can see from the photos the state of the inner fire box and water space. The copper stays are generally in a good state but the steel stays in some places have been severely corroded. You will be aware that we currently have a wish list of the parts we need to buy to repair the firebox.

Other work

Work is continuing on many smaller parts, fitting the eccentric straps being one such case, as you will see from the photo.

It may seem that there is not much progress but work progresses steadily, carried out by our small band of volunteers and you will be amazed at how much has been completed . Axle boxes virtually ready to be fitted, plate work, New front tube plate, new taper buffers cast and machined, new rear drag box, front drag box and buffer plank all in place. New steps fabricated. Once we are able to bolt everything onto the chassis 2874 will begin to resemble the magnificent loco that she is - roll on the day!

We still need to buy significant number of other parts such as 2 connecting rods and injectors. Information as to how we are funding these will appear from time to time, but if you do have a spare few pounds please visit our donations page via the web site. Give as you live is another way you can help , as is buying our branded products via our on line shop. Equally if you have a few hours to spare each month why not come along and help?

Information.Sales Stand ( Dates for your Diary ) 

We will be at The  GWSR Rail 200 event in September , 

The NEC The National Festival of Railway Modelling  https://www.thenec.co.uk/whats-on/the-national-festival-of-railway-modelling/  and

 The Bristol Model Railway Exhibition https://www.bristolmodrailex.uk/general-clean in May 2026

and of course, the GWSR Gala in May 2026