Some may recall that the Moseley Railway Trust's Hudswell Clarke steam loco no. 1238 is now under serious restoration. This loco was imported from Ghana in 2008. It had a time on display at Apedale and then at Leighton Buzzard. Restoration has now started in earnest, and the loco is now almost fully dismantled. It's a bit of a curate's egg - some parts are good, some parts are shockingly bad. There does appear to be some evidence to support the story that the loco fell into a river and killed its driver - certainly the firebox has suffered a major failure at some stage which is consistent with the story. The first photo shows one of the loco mainframes being riveted and strengthened where wasted. The second photo is one of the cylinders being bored to take a liner. It's going to be quite some time before the loco is completed, and the project is NOT fully funded - we have a very generous bequest but it's looking unlikely that this will complete the project - so we would be very grateful for any support which we can receive with this. Get in touch here.
