Latest BS4G

Tuesday, 18th August, 2026

Latest BS4G. Spring Raffle Prize Report.

1st prize - Table for two on the diner. Mr. Bryn Jones of Colchester. Ticket 03779

2nd Prize - Bottle of Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Mrs Edwards of Ruthin. North Wales. Ticket 0500

3rd Prize - Bottle of Liqueur. Mrs Beth Powell of Brandlestholme Ticket 02761

4th Prize Bottle of Prosecco. Mr Silvester of Huddersfield. Ticket 05690

Our grateful thanks to all entrants. Our group will ensure all raffle proceeds are well spent on our projects. Our thanks to ELR for allowing us access to the railway.

Update:

Spring and early summer has been a busy period for our group.

Our spring raffle concluded Sunday 26th July with the draw at BBS. We are grateful to the ELR for the access we have to visitors. As an acknowledgement of this we have again made a donation to another group, the Co-Bo engine appeal. £500 has been given to help this project. A unique loco which will bring visitors to the ELR. That is good for us all. Good luck with the engine gentlemen!

Note: Please see photo of 97 in 1962 at Shrewsbury during it's spell on the Ex Cambrian Railway area.

80097:

This engine has undergone a piston and valve inspection starting in Jan. Measurements have been taken to allow piston ring replacements to be manufactured to be fitted next winter shutdown. The loco return to service was delayed due to piston valve gland components needing machining and new springs being required. The manufacturer had ceased trading so a new source had to be found. It was decided to take advantage of this downtime by having the boiler 14 month cold inspection done earlier. By the end of May 97 was back in traffic. We now look forward to a summer of consistent operation in revenue earning service. Our grateful thanks go to the ELR shed staff for their contribution to returning 80097 to the railway. The Severn Valley Railway have requested our loco attend their steam Gala in September. Our directors are in discussions and we hope it can attend this prestigious event.

46428:

The main and piston valve cylinder reboring has been paused as Fleet Engineering is working abroad. It was always a fall back job. We are very happy with the work completed so far.

Our boiler foundation ring testing has been completed and revealed this component to be in good condition and needing only superficial repairs. The outer wrapper sheets all round are to be removed approx 40 cm up from the foundation ring where the plates are now under thickness. When the sheets have been removed the foundation ring can be put back back into place and supported. When all the relevant stays are removed, a delicate operation, the plate work rebuild can be commenced by our boilersmith. The reverser shaft base and caps which we had cast by Boro Foundry at Stourbridge has had some attention lately. An angled base had to be manufactured to mount it on our milling machine. Material has been milled off to achieve the correct dimensions. More machining will be required before white metal is applied to the bearing surfaces, then final machining and fitting to the loco.

Two of the four slide bars have been completed by Adelaide Engineering , the final two are now with them. We are currently finalising the spec for the "band and disc" we will be purchasing from specialist steel stockholders. These are the components required to form our replacement smokebox tubeplate.

We will be starting a "Boiler Restoration Appeal" soon to help fund this single most expensive item of the loco restoration. Please join in and help us if you can. Please consider buying a stay or a rivet or

set up a standing order to contribute a small amount regularly which, if duplicated by others, can add up to a lot! Please look out for details of how you can contribute. So there is a lot happening at BS4G. Our board and our working volunteers wish to express their sincere thanks to all our supporters and volunteers whether active or not. Please continue and help us to "Keep 80097 rolling and bring back 46428".

See Pics of stay removal progressing and new reverser bracket machining also progressing nicely

Latest News.

46428 Chimney:t

We have been informed by our friends at SVR that finally our chimney is completed, machined and ready to come to Bury. It has taken nearly four years to get to this stage. There have been issues with the quality of the casting. The pattern was returned to SVR for their pattern shop to carry out modifications to the way the pattern was poured. The mods have worked and a good product has been achieved by Boro Foundry of Stourbridge who incidentally did the recent casting of our reverser bracket. See pics of