Progress continues, although at a slower pace, on overhauling British Railways Standard Class 8 Number 71000 “Duke of Gloucester” at Tyseley Locomotive Works.

Unfortunately, the lockdown caused by COVID-19 has seen Tyseley Locomotive Works closed until further notice, stopping working parties of volunteers to work on ‘The Duke’.

Despite this, some physical work is being carried out, like storage boxes for 71000’s tender to house electrical equipment, mostly for operation on the mainline.

Other work has included calculating the cost for machining the three new sets of front and rear cylinder covers.

The Trust has decided to improve 71000 “Duke of Gloucester” by changing the design of piston valves on the locomotive. This will be done by incorporating separate pistons and piston heads along with three piston rings per piston. These changes mean new cylinder covers are required.

Supporting the BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust

On a positive note, a good number of new members and donations have been made to the Trust. The Trust is grateful for this support during these difficult times, which helps to soften the setbacks caused by COVID-19.

How Can I Help?

We hope that our readers can help support the trust in reaching their 2020 target of returning The Duke to the mainline. However, if you cant help at working parties, then you can always donate.

You can donate in several ways. The first way is easy; you can donate however big or small via the Just Giving page – which you can view here.

The second way is you can sponsor one or more of the bearings; you can do that by emailing [email protected]

Finally, you can send a cheque payable to the BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust and send it to:

BR Class 8 Steam Locomotive Trust
Aurora House
Deltic Avenue
Rooksley
Milton Keynes
MK13 8LW

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