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  • Swedish Y7 Railbus no. 1212

    Status: Launch into traffic on 14th October 2012

    Location: Wansford or in service

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     1212 On relaunch day at Wansford.  © Pete Murry (PM Images)2012 

    History

    1212 was built for the Swedish State Railways (SJ) in 1958 by Eksjoverken.

    The vehicle has a very unusual appearance, being one of the widest vehicles ever to have run in the UK. With the near ground level loading there is no room underneath for the engine. It is therefore found in one of the driver’s cabs and passengers have to walk past it to enter the saloon!

    378 driving vehicles of this type as well as 321 trailers were built between 1953 and 1961. Up to 8 vehicles could be coupled together and driven from one cab, though there are no plans to get another vehicle at the NVR yet! With a top speed of 78mph our vehicle ran 1,996,000km in service: The equivalent to travelling to the moon and back over 2 ½ times.

    She moved to the NVR for preservation in 1984 and operated on the line until her owner passed away in 1989. Following the sale to the Bygone Village, Fleggburgh, Great Yarmouth, she spent the next 14 years undercover alongside Swedish tank engine no 1928.

    When this shut down in 2003/4 the collection was sold on and the railbus ended up as an undercover picnic area on Tweddle Animal Farm, Hartlepool.

    In January 2011 it was purchased by its new owners and restoration began.

    1212 was relaunched back into traffic in October 2012 after a fast track restoration. Indeed in the final week of restoration over 400 man hours were put in. Because of this she won The Railcar Association's Railcar of the Year Award in Jan 2013. For details on her restoration, the award and her work since see the update below (with the most recent first).

  • Swedish ‘B Class’ no. 101A

    Status: Cosmetic restoration complete

    Location: Wansford: Part of Nord Express line up by Main Entrance

     101 Cosmetically restored at Wansford

    History

    Swedish B Class No. 101 was one of three locos built in Stockholm for the Stockholm-Västerås-Bergslagens Järnvägar (SWB Railway) in 1944. The design however dates from 1909 when the Swedish Railways (SJ) built 96 examples of the class. Thus, in total 99 of the class were built for both express passenger services and freight workings across the country.

    When the SWB was nationalised in 1945 101 gained the Swedish Railways number 1697. 101 eventually found her way into the Swedish Strategic Steam Reserve. As such, when purchased for use on the NVR she was in good condition and was a regular performer on the line in her fictitious dark blue livery until her withdrawal in January 2005.

    Following the departure of Nord loco no. 3.628, 101 found her way next to 3916 in front of IRPS workshop at Wansford in 2010. Having been well over a decade since the loco was last painted, and having sat unloved for 5 years, the external condition left a lot to be desired and was nearing the critical point of no return.

    Before this could happen, a team of young IRPS volunteers, with the help of a dozen students from the local Prince William School taking part in a 'voluntary work week', set to her with a multitude of power tools, paints and elbow grease to return her to an authentic livery and hold back the rot.

    A major part of this has been the replacement of the rotten timbers and felt which form the cab roof, which was starting to show its age with a series of leaks and holes.

    The full cosmetic restoration was complete in late 2012 and has included a full repaint, a new cab roof, replacing some metal sheet-work, a full overhaul of the electric systems so they can be operated from the ground and a number of other ancillary tasks.

    The restoration as it happened is documented below.

  • Danish E Class Pacific no. 996

    Status: Ongoing cosmetic restoration

    Location: Railworld, Peterborough

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    No. 996, owned by Railworld, is particularly relevant to the goals of the International Railway Preservation Society. It has great significance to the Wagons-Lits carriages under our custodianship, particularly 3916 (the Sleeping Car), as this car was built for the Nord Express. It is exactly for this service and other express services such as the Wagons-Lits Scandinavie - Italie Express that the F class Pacific's were built, initially in Sweden finally in Denmark as the E class. The inclusion of this loco with the coaches already under our custodianship tells a much broader story than any of the vehicles could ever do by themselves.

    Railworld still remain committed to the locomotive but with many other demands on their finances and volunteer resources any prospect of restoration or conservation work is years in the future. It is the principal responsibility of all museums to act in the best interest of the items in their care. With this in mind the International Railway Preservation Society and Railworld have teamed up to provide the necessary short to medium term care that the locomotive needs including the cosmetic restoration of the locomotive by IRPS. In the long term we hope to return the locomotive to full operational order if funding allows.

    History

    Danish State Railways (DSB) E Class no. 996 was built by Frichs in 1950.

    This design of locomotive began life in Sweden in 1914 as a Swedish F Class at the NOHAB works. This class of eleven locomotives proved successful at hauling the heaviest trains. However by the 1930’s the Swedish rail network was being rapidly electrified so the whole class were put into storage. At the same time the Danish State Railways were struggling with a lack of motive power. They were therefore sold to DSB at scrap price and pressed into service. During the War, under German occupation, more locos were needed in Denmark, and to make manufacture easier these were built to pre-War designs. Ordered between 1940 and 1947, in four batches, another 25 E Class locos were constructed at the Frichs Locomotive Works. The final batch however, including no. 996, were not delivered until 1950. Compared to the Swedish NOHAB examples, the Frichs examples had larger cabs and a second steam dome.

  • DB Kof II 323 674-2

     

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    German 'Kleinlokomotiven' (literally: small locomotives) like the DRG Kö II (later: Köf II) were developed as locomotives with a low weight and driving power for light shunting duties. The reason for the low height was so they could be placed on a flat bed wagon and simply off-loaded when they reached the station or yard they were required in.

    After tests with several trial locomotives, they were placed in service from 1932 onwards by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRG) and used on small stations for light shunting and marshalling work. They were intended to make the handling of goods traffic more economical. To do that an appropriately trained controller had to be able to handle shunting duties using the locomotive. Accordingly the locomotive was designed to be robust and easy to operate.

    323 674-2 (Originally numbered 6291) was built in 1952 (Along with her sister 323 539.7) It is safe to say that she is probably one of the most travelled engines in preservation (along with her sister 323 539.7). Having been built in Germany and used for a number of years, the locos was bought by Balfour Beatty in 1990 where they were used on the construction of the Channel Tunnel. In 1993 they were shipped to The Far East when they were used on the construction of the Hong Kong Airport Metro (Where both loco's cabs were cut down in width by approximately a foot). In the late 1990’s/early 2000’s they were returned to the UK. They were bought by their current owner in 2003 and moved to Northumbria. In 2011 both locos were moved to Eastleigh Works where they were used as yard shunters. In 2013 the ‘sisters’ were split up when 323 674-2 was moved to the NVR.

    She will be used as a yard shunter at Ferry Meadows in ‘The Night Mail’ project alongside ‘Frank’.

    Detailed History

    Date Event
    04.09.1957 Commisioned by DB as Köf 6291 
    01.01.1968 Renumbering "323 674 - 2"
    31.10.1990 Retired from Göttingen
    1990

    Bought by Balfour Beatty, Ashford (Kent)
    for C.T.T.G. - channel tunnel track group

    1993

    Balfour Beatty for airport railway construction, Hong Kong

    199X/200X Back at Balfour Beatty, Ashford (Kent)
    2003 Bought for Preservation by Northumbria rail Ltd, Northumberland, England [name: Simonside]
    18.10.2011 On loan to Knights Rail Services Ltd (KRS), Eastleigh Rail Works, Hampshire
    8.11.2013 To Nene Valley Railway for use with The Night Mail Project

    Photos

     

    painted kof Sister loco on the channel tunnel construction tunnel02 kof eastleigh 01 kof eastleigh 02