NEWS

NEW STEAM LOCOMOTIVE JOINS THE BODMIN FLEET

The days of a Great Western auto train operating again in Cornwall – a sight not seen regularly in the county for well over 40 years – is a prospect for the future on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway, following their recent purchase of GWR 64xx Class 0-6-0PT No 6435.

No 6435 at Paignton
Photo courtesy of John Carter.

No 6435 – which is in full working order and is ‘in ticket’ until late 2010 – has been purchased by the Bodmin & Wenford Railway Trust from the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway in Devon.

The locomotive was one of forty 64xx Class locomotives built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon Works between 1932 and 1937, designed by C. B. Collett, primarily for branch line work. All were fitted from new with the necessary equipment to work an auto train – that is, one that can be driven from the engine in the normal manner, or by remote control from the front of the leading coach when the train is being propelled by the engine.

Whilst working for the Great Western Railway and, later, British Railways (Western Region), a large contingent of the forty locomotives were based at Cardiff and at various Cardiff Valley sheds, though some operated from Plymouth Laira shed and regularly worked auto trains into Cornwall, to Saltash and Liskeard.
 

No 6435 spent almost all its life working trains in the Cardiff area – primarily from Cathays, Merthyr and Abercynon sheds – though between December 1963 and October 1964 it was based in the West Country at Yeovil, where it largely worked auto train services between the town’s Junction, Pen Mill and Town stations, branches of the former Southern Railway which by then were under Western Region control.
 

The new locomotive – which will retain its BR unlined green livery – is expected to make its public debut on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway at the Steam Gala & Real Ale Festival on 5th-7th September 2008, working an intensive timetable on the 6½-mile line over the weekend with the line’s other resident ex-BR locomotives together, it is hoped, with a ‘guest’ engine.

The engine was withdrawn from service by BR in October 1964, having run over 570,000 miles in service, and – together with two other members of the 64xx Class, Nos 6412 and 6430, was purchased by the Dart Valley Railway, initially to operate on the Buckfastleigh-Totnes branch in South Devon. No 6435 was later transferred to work on the Paignton-Kingswear line, which was obtained by the DVLR in late 1972.

 

No 6435 at Paignton with the Autocoach in the background
Photo courtesy of John Carter.

In due course, it is planned that No 6435 will recreate the days of the BR Western Region auto train on the Cornish branch, paired with 1951-built trailer No 232, which was purchased by the Bodmin & Wenford Railway Trust – also from the Paignton & Dartmouth Railway – earlier this year, and currently in store awaiting attention.
“No 6435 is an excellent addition to our locomotive fleet,” comments Richard Jones, General Manager of the B&WR, “and is very well suited to our line. Not only will it be able to be used on our normal service trains, but the engine will be ideal for use on our Footplate Experience Courses and, in due course, will enable us to again recreate the days of a Great Western auto train running in Cornwall.
 

Both photos of No 6435 are courtesy of John Carter.  To see more of John's work go to  www.carterjohn.co.uk