Royal accolade for 2807 team

HRH Prince Michael of Kent presented the Cotswold Steam Preservation team on Thursday 26th June with an award for 'Restoration Excellence' for its work on 2800 class 2-8-0 no. 2807, at Toddington.

The award was the 2007 David Muirhead Award from The Transport Trust, which was announced last November. The team received a welcome boost to its funds with a cheque for £1,500 to help the restoration along. The awards ceremony took place at Kew.

This award was introduced by the The Transport Trust for a project that is under way, but not completed. Criteria include demonstrating progress as well as a costed future plan and realistic expectation of completion.

2807 - which is the oldest Great Western Railway locomotive in private ownership - is making steady progress towards re-entering service on the GWR for the 2009 season.  The chassis is currently within the David Page shed at Toddington while the boiler is at Llangollen for completion and testing.

This weekend, the chassis will 'swap places' with that of ex-Turkish Railways 8F class 2-8-0 no. 8274 which will make it easier to extract it for transport to Llangollen later this year, so that it can be reunited with the boiler. Remaining work on the chassis includes plumbing for the vacuum braking system, steam train heating and injectors and assembly of pistons and connecting rods. At Llangollen, boiler work includes new firebox plating following replacement of the crown stays; internal pipework and fitting of the smokebox tubeplate. The tubes and flues can then be installed. The group still expect the engine to be steamed before the end of 2008.

You can find out more about 2807 by visiting the Cotswold Steam Preservation website.