Chairman’s Chat – November/December 2025
By Neil Taylor
Heading in the right direction
After the excitement of “The Greatest Gathering” we have had to get back to the job in hand. Now we have got into the swing of things we are finding plenty of jobs opening up around the locomotive. The recent delivery of the more complex cladding items allows that job to become part of the schedule. With the locomotive back in the shed we can continue with our alignment of the main slide bars. The SVR Staff have completed the piston assemblies, and we have now asked them to provide the piston rings for both the main piston and the valve assemblies. We can plan for the motion assembly starting in the New Year. We have also asked for some tuition on white-metalling, such that we can start to produce the major bearings for the larger motion components.
The machining team are all now working on the motion. From small oil pot covers to huge pins and nuts for joining the Coupling Rods together. In anticipation of the arrival of the remaining major motion items, I have spent several hours looking at the components that will be required to assemble the motion. This is a good illustration of how even when something looks complete, the devil is literally in the detail.
The shopping list looks like:
All these items will need to be produced from materials that will be ordered this week. There will follow several weeks of manufacture by a couple of members of the machining team. Many of these components will need to be hardened and ground to size following machining.
The other significant progress has been on the drilling of the smokebox into the saddle. Once again, a single job that has taken several weeks to complete. The main challenge being drilling dozens of holes in a very confined space through three quarters of an inch of material. It also has the implication that we will have to lift the boiler to remove the swarf that has forced its way between the smokebox and the Saddle. It is surprising how much swarf has sneaked into the gap!
Dave Bates drilling through the smokebox into the saddle.
The “Final Push” Fundraising update
In my last Chairman’s Chat, I mentioned the “Final Push” appeal. My fear was that this would be a bit of an anti-climax. However, I need not have worried. With good trading at the Autumn Gala and consistent additions from donations and subscriptions, and further sales of limited-edition prints, we have already put a big dent in the target.
At the October Trustees meeting the financial report proposed that the target had reduced to £250k. At this rate we should be able to consider that our fundraising will meet the completion target by the end of 2027. That may become a very important date?
In the media
This has been a great year for the locomotive getting some positive press. The latest example being as part of a visit from the team at ‘Green Signals’. Having already featured us at “The Greatest Gathering” the presenter continued his interest in the loco at Bridgnorth. This is a good advert for the Severn Valley in general but if you just want to see the 82045 section this starts about 18 minutes into the broadcast.
It was good to see 82045 looking tidy and purposeful. It was equally good to hear Duncan Ballard being so generous about the potential value of the locomotive to the SVR. In that video clip, Duncan explains that the locomotive is under the curatorship of the 82045 Trust.
Light at the end of the tunnel?
In the video mentioned above, Duncan would not commit to a launch date for the locomotive and that is how the SVR and 82045 jointly view the project (the party line if you like). This lack of commitment is born out of experience with heritage projects, which are notoriously difficult to predict. There is still some procurement of difficult components, plenty of man-hours of work and the need to get many hours of contracting from the SVR paid staff. Such things add complexity. On the other side of the equation, our locomotive was designed to be simple to produce and maintain. So many things are actually not so complicated. It does however still absorb hours at a high rate.
Throughout this year we have started to seriously think about the potential for the completion date. I now propose that we should imagine a completion some time towards the end of 2027. This is helpful as it coincides with the finish of the essential fundraising. We also need to bear in mind that the SVR should only accept a locomotive into their fleet when they require a replacement and this date fits with the retirement of the GWR Pannier Tank 7714.
Winter Gala and other Galas in 2026
In the last couple of years, we have attended the SVR Winter Gala with our sales team. I have just had the news that the Christmas decorations on Kidderminster concours will not be cleared this year to make a space for any significant sales stands. We would have about a quarter of the space we normally have. Given this level of compromise, we have decided to skip this next Gala. I am sorry if that affects any of your plans, but there is good news. There is a “Branchline Weekend” event in February and a Summer Gala in July. We now plan to attend one or both of these. I hope that makes up for any disappointment at New Year.
And finally...
No surprises that I would want to wish all our supporters, observers, members, donors and the team on the ground, a very Happy Christmas and a productive New Year. We do very much appreciate all of you coming on the journey with us.
One thing I have noted recently is that many of the team are not long-term Railway Engineers. At a time when there is much talk about apprenticeships a group of elderly gentlemen are proving that you can “teach old dogs new tricks”. We are immensely proud of the achievements to date and can only hope that it will not be long until we can sit back and admire the completed article.
Kindest Regards, Neil and the 82045 Trustees