About the Fund

The project started life in the late 1990's under the aegis of South Devon Railway fireman John Besley, who worked hard to get the new locomotive off the ground until 2003 when work and family commitments forced him to hand over the controls to Cheshire-based SVR footplatemen driver Tony Massau and fireman Chris Proudfoot.

Since then, The 82045 Locomotive Fund has maintained a fairly low profile, though a great deal of hard work has been going on in the background. The Fund has built up a nucleus of enthusiastic and supportive members, and is quietly confident of success, though there is still much to do. Highlights to date have been the acquisition from Stoke-on-Trent Council in 2005 of the centre pair of 5'3" driving wheels from BR Class 4 Mogul no.76080 and, in spring 2007, the cutting, profiling and machining of the main frame plates, which were delivered to the Severn Valley Railway on Monday 23rd April.

These items are stored at Eardington, but, along with other large components inherited from John Besley (two sets of buffers, reportedly from an 08 diesel but of the correct type, and the chimney from Class 3 Mogul no. 77014) and at present held in Cheshire, they are to be moved to a dedicated site at Bridgnorth later this year*. There is also a sizeable collection of smaller parts, including driver's brake valve, sanding gear, firehole doors, lamp brackets, bunker steps, assorted grab- and handrails and many other items.

The Fund is now working towards the creation of a complete frame assembly, and amongst the large library of drawings of the 82000 class in its possession are those pertaining to the frame stretchers, horn guides and ties and buffer beams. It is anticipated that the work to build these items will soon be under way, with a view to having a rolling chassis as soon as possible.

The original aspiration was to build the boiler and firebox first, achievement of this goal being the ultimate proof of seriousness of intent. A provisional quotation of approximately £300,000 was obtained from Roger Pridham in late 2004, though with the rising prices of steel and copper in the meantime, the Fund expect an appreciably higher eventual cost for this item.

The intention is that the boiler and firebox should be of traditional construction - lapped and riveted steel boiler, copper inner firebox and firebox tubeplate - both because we would like 82045 to be as authentic as possible, and because traditional boilersmithing skills are still more readily available. Main problem here is the extreme scarcity of the correct grade of arsenical copper and its consequent very high market price. An all-steel firebox would be possible, but staying arrangements would then need to be altered.

Although the Fund is pressing ahead with the frame construction, we still nurture a wish to build the boiler and firebox and would love to hear from anyone who would be prepared to sponsor this, so if there are any interested parties out there, please do get in touch!

We have no personal ambitions with 82045: we simply want it to be built and would be more than happy to build it on behalf of a benefactor, the only criterion being that the engine should be based on the SVR, though available for hire to other heritage lines.

We consider that the SVR is an ideal home: it has a 16-mile operating length, steam railway engineering know-how that is unsurpassed in modern Britain, and it is also historically correct for this locomotive since examples of the class worked over the line throughout the 1950's and early 1960's. It is hoped that as much as possible of the work involved in building 82045 will be done under contract at the railway's Bridgnorth Works.

Although based on the SVR, the Fund is an independent body. An earlier tie with the "Hengist" project was terminated by mutual consent in 2003, and the only affiliation now is with the BR Standard Locomotive Owners' Group (BRSLOG), an informal consortium of individuals and organisations concerned with the surviving (and planned newbuild) Riddles locomotives. This meets twice a year and is a valuable forum for cooperation as well as providing an interesting overview of the status quo of all these locos.

*The frames were moved on Monday 9th June to The Boro' Foundry at Lye for drilling and are expected back at the 82045 site at Bridgnorth in late July/early August - see the News section.

How the Fund Began

John Besley, the originator of the scheme (and not to be confused with John Beesley of footplate clothing & equipment supplies!), writes about the germination of the idea behind building the next BR Standard class 3 tank engine, 82045.