Building Yeo & Exe – The Manning Wardle Project
News Update April 2020
Progress has been made on the Manning Wardles over the last few months. As previously reported a meeting was held between the MW directors and Paul Lewin, Jon Whalley from the Ffestiniog and in particular, Boston Lodge works and James Evans of ‘Lyd’ fame.
From that meeting the patterns for various parts were examined and those for the cylinders and cylinder covers plus valve chest were sent out as part of the enquires for quotations. In due course the quotes were received and quantities for ordering agreed.
Manning Wardle Sectioned Cylinder.
Orders have been placed with Cerdic Foundry for four sets of cylinder castings complete with end covers and valve chest lids. These are to provide two fully machined sets of cylinders for ‘Yeo’ and ‘Exe’ and also two sets of spares, one for ‘Taw’ and another as spare parts for future use – and just in case ‘Lew’s are damaged (or missing!). In addition the foundry is casting a new right-hand cylinder for ‘Lyd’ which is in need of some attention. Once cast two sets will be sent to Boston Lodge for machining along with ‘Lyd’s replacement right-hand block. The remainder will be placed in store to mature and wait their turn in the machine shop.
The following steps will be forging of various motion parts, which may be on long delivery, and casting of wheels. The driving wheel tyres will be ordered from South Africa and are also likely to be on a protracted delivery hence the order will be placed very soon.
Some smaller items will be produced at various locations and placed in store. Larger components such as frames will be produced to suit the build programme; we do not wish to have large, unwieldy and vulnerable parts hanging around for too long.
A progress meeting was planned for mid-April in Derbyshire but as you might expect has been postponed for a while. Also delayed has been the casting work which is perhaps just as well as once ready delivery will follow and the destinations are also closed currently. When the all-clear is announced from COVID-19 progress will start in earnest.
Yeo and Exe Together 1935
The funds are rolling in nicely and we fully expect that the sight of new parts coming along will convince others to join in and support the project. The design work carried out to build ‘Lyd’ will be used for these build with some detailed improvements, alterations and adjustments in the light of experience. This has been gained over the ten years since ‘Lyd’ started operating on the FR & WHR. This will allow a fairly short construction period for these two locos; only the rate of funding will dictate actual progress.
Contact Jon Pain for 762 Club memberships or donations at jonpain@waitrose.com
Peter Miles 21 3 2020
YEOformation No: 1
Welcome to the first instalment for YEO and EXE of the popular information sharing articles.
LYNformation became a popular feature charting the build progress of our first locomotive LYN so we will follow that formula. When there is EXE specific - then look out for editions of EXEformation otherwise we will cover all information as YEOformation.
We are keen to ensure that YEO and EXE members get to hear about design and construction news first, so we might make part of the website restricted so that 762 Club members can log in for the latest news in advance of publication.
In the interim we will let you know when significant activities occur - which will of necessity be slow to begin with.
Membership
As I write there are currently;
49 Members supporting YEO & EXE
36 supporting YEO only
11 supporting EXE only
We know that once work starts in earnest several 762 LYN members will take up membership of the YEO and/or EXE funds.
Finance
Income is made up of those members who paid their membership in one go and other members paying via standing order. Currently the 762 Club has some £78,000 ring-fenced to the YEO and EXE fund with another £32,000 anticipated via standing order. With gift aid (claims to HMRC submitted and/or paid up to the end of Dec 2019) the current YEO/EXE fund ring-fenced total is about £91,000.
Finance (LYN)
Our first locomotive LYN, has a separate ring-fenced fund which currently has some £28,000 accrued. This fund is built from steaming fees and miscellaneous 762 Club (LYN fund) memberships and fundraising. This ring-fenced fund will only be ever used towards the future maintenance of LYN. It will not be used for YEO/EXE locomotive design or construction.
YEO & EXE – Making a start…
A team meeting was held in Bristol on 15th November 2019 to discuss the next steps in getting the project underway. The initial sequence of work was established and agreed as being cylinders, motion and wheels.
As can be seen above, the 762 Club have sufficient funds already in place to make a constructive start. The casting patterns which have been stored on the Ffestiniog Railway have been checked over for sundry alterations and any repair work. The cylinder patterns have been sent out to obtain firm quotes for the main castings including end covers.
The new cylinders will be almost identical to those fitted to ‘LYD’ as per these two photos.
The castings weigh about 260 kg before machining – despite the big hole up the middle!
The motion components are being drawn into a CAD package which should enable poduction to be dealt with in a similar fashion to that on ‘LYN’. The intention is to commence cutting metal this year.
Quotes are being sought for the wheels and orders well placed as soon as reasonable. Tyres will also be ordered. Meanwhile the pony-truck wheelsets are soon to be cast and machined.
Peter Miles
YEO and EXE are expected to cost around £500,000 each, and will not only benefit from the drawings, patterns and experience gained from building LYD, but also economies of scale by building additional components for further new-builds of TAW and LEW. This means a full complement of Manning Wardles is in prospect for the future. Furthermore, as the L&B Trust owns the Manning Wardle Trademark, these engines will carry Manning Wardle works numbers 2048 and 2049 respectively.
The L&BR has neither the capacity nor resources to build the engines, consequently, YEO is to be assembled at 'Workshop X' in Killamarsh, Derbyshire (where the replica NWNGR single Fairlie Gowrie is also to be built), and EXE at the Ffestiniog Railway's Boston Lodge Works.
Things may have been quiet since the project's launch, but we have been busy focusing on design and also fundraising. More news to be available at the September Gala.
The 762 club is busy raising funds for both of these engines. To contribute to their construction, please click HERE.
July News
The 762 Club launched Project YEO and Project EXE back in September 2018 with the goal of bringing two new-build Manning Wardle 2-6-2T locomotives back to the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. Since the launch of this appeal, fundraising has almost reached the £100,000 level. Note; this figure is ‘committed’ funds (i.e. it includes funds in the bank but also amounts still to pay from members who contribute via the monthly standing order option) and also includes a planned Gift Aid claim to the HMRC. The actual YEO and EXE ring-fenced funds in the 762 Club account are approx £41,000 made up of £23,000 allocated for YEO and £18,000 allocated for EXE.
Work set to begin on YEO
The 762 Club directors had a most educational and entertaining visit to the workshops in North East Derbyshire where it was suggested YEO could be built. After the visit we were delighted to confirm that YEO will indeed be built at Killamarsh.
The team at ‘the works’ have plenty of experience in restoring narrow-gauge steam locomotives and in addition many years of engineering - and steam locomotive engineering at that – between them.
An upcoming visit to the FR will enable some of the team to review drawings and details used in the construction of LYD to decide what further design input is required. Some drawings will need to be redrawn in 3D CAD and we have a member in the YEO team who will be doing that with other assistance as required.
Simultaneously, James Evans is checking the various patterns used on LYD to validate what remedial work may be required before they are used again. There are also a number of potential revisions to the design of LYD which should be incorporated into our Manning Wardle production. These have been listed and consideration is being given to the desirability of each and every suggestion. At the same time there are many updated features included on LYN and it makes sense to see what of those can be included on our future new-builds.
The intention (funds permitted) is to start work at the beginning of 2020 in obtaining castings, materials and actual physical work. Meanwhile the design stages will be moving forward. This work will be charted on the 762 Club website in a similar fashion to the popular LYNformation but named YEOformation or EXEformation and for this to be visible to members of the YEO or EXE fund as appropriate.
In a few short(ish) years we should have the magnificent sight of YEO and EXE double-heading trains on the L&B once again; the stuff dreams are made of!
LYN
Earlier this year LYN travelled once again to North Wales to participate in the Snowdonian train over the Welsh Highland Railway and gave a truly sterling performance.
The following day Lyn hauled two L&B Specials from Portmadoc to Waunfawr which went very well and gave an excellent demonstration of her current performance and potential.
LYN attracts steaming fees whilst based on the Lynton & Barnstaple. These fees are ring-fenced for future heavy maintenance operations to LYN and currently just over £32,000 accumulated funds exist for this purpose.
LYN continues to operate well at Woody Bay.
LYN is a credit to each and every one of you who helped bring her into being!
762 Club Finance
Almost every £1 donated to the 762 Club goes towards locomotive design or construction. General expense outgoings are minimal and include LYN’s insurance (primarily to cover Product Liability risk) and the 762 Club’s accountant fees for generating the annual accounts and filing at Companies House.
The 762 Club is VAT registered and pays and reclaims VAT as appropriate. Gift Aid is claimed from the HMRC on applicable donations.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations)
Members maybe aware of the above regulations which became law in May 2018. Please note your 762 Club data is used solely for the purpose of administering your membership of the 762 Club. Your data is NOT transferred, sold or used by any other third party (this includes the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust and CIC).
Members are reminded to help us make sure your data is up to date so please advise me of any changes to your correspondence address and critically email address so we can ensure we can keep you up-to-date with any new information.
And Finally
For those who hae not done so yet, why not join the YEO and/or EXE fund and like LYN be a part of an amazing project. Please click here to download a copy of the Project YEO and Project EXE fundraising leaflet.
Thank-you, as always, for your support.
Jon Pain
The 762 Club
The Snowdonian - the NG event of the year?
Preserved Railway has posted this video of the Snowdonian to YouTube.
Our thanks to Jeremy English of Rail Scene Video for this excellent footage