The Churchward Country Trust has announced that they have placed an order for the front-end extension frames for No. 3840 County of Montgomery

The order has been placed with Roach Precision in Brierley Hill, West Midlands.

In typical Churchward style, the American-style extension frames will form the front third of No. 3840’s frame assembly.

In the future, the frame will support the bogie and carry the cylinders for the locomotive.

Thanks to modern CNC manufacturing techniques No. 3840’s will be machined from solid steel at a cost of around £13,000.

Roach Precision is no stranger to the manufacture of GWR extension frames, having recently made a replacement set for Dinmore Manor Ltd’s No.3850, which is currently under overhaul at the GWSR.

What did the officials say?

Gary Boyd-Hope, chairman of the CCT said:

“The extension frames represent the last major part of the main frames jigsaw for County of Montgomery, with the exception of the dragbox. Placing the order for them puts us one step closer to having a completed frame assembly for the loco, the erection of which will be carried out at Tyseley Locomotive Works.

“We have already had the main frames and various stretcher plates cut and delivered to Tyseley, and have agreed with the works that it will source and provide the numerous angles and brackets required to turn the myriad plates into a locomotive’s frames.

“It certainly marks another milestone for the CCT, but it also means that we must step-up our fund-raising and attract more supporters to the project,” Mr Boyd-Hope added. “Having multiple components is one thing, but they will only become a set of frames if we can pay Tyseley to erect them.

“Hopefully this order will show potential supporters, who may have been waiting to see how much progress we made before donating, that we mean business and can deliver a re-created ‘County’ 4-4-0 with the right support.”

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