The following has been supplied by the Dinmore Manor Fund...
The metalwork for the cab-floor has now been completed and the wooden boards are being prepared. Assembly of the cylinder cock gear, rods and linkages is well underway. The slide-bar supports are being ground flat,various bolts and shims obtained to allow the slide-bars to be put in position and aligned.
A new Valve Extension Rod has been forged and is now being machined. The other Rod has been repaired by welding. Various parts of the Damper operating gear have been refurbished and will be fitted shortly. The remainder will be fitted after the boiler is back on the frames. Various parts of the sanding gear have been refurbished and await fitting.
Work has commenced on the Boiler and most of the steel stays have been removed along with some copper stays, a wasted patch of the outer firebox has been cut away to allow inspection of the top of the foundation ring, the smokebox has been prepared for removal, the smokebox door is being refurbished. currently the crown stays are being cleaned to allow for a closer inspection .
Updated: 12 December 2000
(extracted from the WSR Stock Book 5th Edition and reproduced here with the permission of the author, Keith Smith)
The prototype of the 28XX Class, No 97 (later No 2800) appeared in 1903, the first locomotive in Britain to use the 2-84) wheel arrangement. By 1919, a total of eighty four Churchward 2-8-0's had been constructed at Swindon. The locomotives proved ideally suited to hauling heavy goods traffic, for which they were designed, and in 1906, No 2808 established a new record haul by a single steam locomotive, working 107 loaded coal wagons (2,012 tons) between Swindon and Acton.
After a lapse of nearly 20 years, construction was resumed, with a further 83 locomotives being produced between 1938 and 1942 to a slightly modified design by C.B. Collett, Churchward's successor (known as the '2884' Class). The 2-8-0's was responsible for the majority of heavy freight workings on the GWR and, later, BR Western Region.
No 3850 was one of the last batch of twenty three '2884' Class locomotives built, being turned out from Swindon on June 16 1942, at a cost of £7,911, and painted in wartime black livery. The locomotive's first shed allocation was St Phillip's Marsh. Bristol. where it would have worked trains into South Wales, Salisbury. the Midlands and the West Country. After a brief transfer to Westbury for twelve months from March 1947, No 3850 then spent a ten year period from March 1948 to October 1958 based at Severn Tunnel Junction, where it continued on similar duties, but working regularly between South Wales and Salisbury on coal and iron ore trains. On October 22 1958 No 3850 was put into store at Severn Tunnel Junction (unrepaired), presumably due to lack of work. The 2- 8-0 was reinstated on February 2 1959 and sent to work at Aberdare shed. from where it worked until 1963. Coal trains would have been the locomotive's principal 'diet' during this time. The '38' was sent to Swindon in June 1963 for overhaul where, interestingly, 2-6-2T No 4160 was also undergoing repair at the same time.
No 3850 was sent to work from Banbury shed on November 19 1963 - by then part of the London Midland region - where it would have been used on the extensive Oxfordshire iron ore workings. It is believed that the Collett 2-8-0 was later transferred to Croes Newydd shed, Wrexham, and later Severn Tunnel Junction in August 1965, though its Engine History card gives no details of this. Total mileage to December 28 1963 was 613,010.
During its life the locomotive was fitted with no less than fourteen tenders and seven different boilers; boiler C4043 is the one currently fitted.
No 3850 was purchased by Woodhams scrapyard. Barry, where it languished for almost twenty years. During 1983, the 38XX Preservation Society was launched with a view to bringing one of the Great Western 2-8-0's to the WSR and restoring it for use on the line. Alot of interest was shown in the appeal - the prospect of a GWR tender engine on the WSR stimulating the imagination - and sufficient funds were raised to enable No 3850, the chosen locomotive, to be purchased on February 26 1984. The locomotive arrived at Bishops Lydeard by road, being unloaded on March 3 of that year.
During the night of July 30 1984, No 3850 was towed to Minehead where, after a period of static display, restoration to full working order was commenced. Meanwhile, as no suitable tender was available, a separate deal with British Rail resulted in an ex- GWR 4000 gallon high-sided tender being purchased for the locomotive, which was originally paired with 'Castle' Class 4-6-0 No 5004 Llanstephan Castle. but latterly used for departmental duties.
Restoration of No 3850 is progressing steadily at Minehead, the locomotive being stripped to its component parts. The frames have since been rewheeled and work has started on the overhaul of the boiler.
Another member of the '2884' Class, No 3822, was hired by the WSR from the Great Western Society at Didcot during 1992. The locomotive proved ideally suited to the WSR. and thus the completion of No 3850 is eagerly awaited.