17 October 2024 – The Canadian Pacific Project by Rebecca Dalley, CEO, the Watercress Line
Rebecca introduced herself with a brief outline of her career to date as she is very new to railways. She started working with industrial heritage and was at the Science Museum for 4 years working in their storage facility, before moving on to Duxford (part of the Imperial War Museum), then the RAF Museum, followed by working for the Shuttleworth Trust – mostly aircraft but with some steam traction too. She is very interested in engineering, heritage aviation and has a good experience of moving large objects. In addition she is a non-executive director of an engineering business for restoration that manufactures parts that are no longer available.
She was called in to help the Watercress Line in April 2023 because she knew the heritage sector and was familiar with arranging big events. This was initially supposed to be for 6 months but she now has a permanent post there which is how she came to be involved with the 35005 Canadian Pacific project. There have been many challenges and successes along the way. This is the oldest surviving Merchant Navy Pacific designed by Bulleid for the Southern during WWII with quite a number of innovations. Officially, it was designed for mixed traffic but really for express passenger services post war, and part of its original role was to ferry military personnel and equipment to and from the South Coast during which time it became apparent that some of the innovations had become liabilities, while others were really worthwhile.
The entire class of Merchant Navy locomotives was mostly built at Eastleigh staffed mainly by women who had learned all the skills required. Most of the women were likely to be younger and unattached and Rebecca is currently seeking out any of those women who are still around and who worked there, to record their stories. She also explained why the class was so named – in honour of the Merchant Navy whose ships had struggled to get through the enemy ‘wolf packs’ and appreciate the losses suffered. 35005 was named after the Canadian Pacific shipping line that, by the end of the war, had lost all the ships it had had at the start; the company no longer exists in the shipping world today.
This is a great story to tell as many younger people now will not know the origins of the name. It also helps to provide the context for the locomotive and a reason for restoring it to working order. Rebecca also explained its designation as 21C5 – 2 leading bogies, 1 trailing bogie, C axle, 5 fifth of its class. Much is known regarding the technical details and the work it was used for but there is very little on record about the drivers, crews, and loads carried. The information is proving hard to find but Rebecca wants to put the people into the story to help bring it to life. And its history can be linked to D-Day which was a key turning point in the war.
There is some post war history when 35005 was used as a general workhorse, for example taking £10 pommes to the south coast to embark on their one-way journey to Australia. It would also have taken holidaymakers to the south coast – realising that paid holidays were only introduced in 1938. She came out of service in 1968 and was rescued from the Barry scrapyard before being bought eventually by the Mid Hants Railway in 2003. The current project is her fourth overhaul since becoming part of the heritage railway scene.
It was expected that she would be able to steam into Eastleigh for the latest overhaul and steam back out again afterwards. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. She went there in 2011, and great efforts were made at the Watercress Line to get heritage lottery money for the project during the period 2012-2014. Part of the case was to include supporting various trades and apprenticeships as well as providing a local interest. It started well until a number of ‘horrors’ were discovered when it was being taken apart. Whilst Eastleigh could deal with many things, parts of what was required were more than Eastleigh had the facilities to cope with. Much work was done by volunteers and apprentices supported by engineering staff from Ropley (on the Watercress Line). The boiler was brought back to Ropley and the entire inner firebox was so badly corroded that it had to be rebuilt with the additional costs that would entail - a long term project done by volunteers over a period of three years. But progress was being made as evidenced by the excitement of lighting the boiler for the very first time in June 2024 to test that all was well.
The chassis effectively had to be re-wheeled and all was to come together at Eastleigh although the various jobs had been completed elsewhere. This was put together and ready approximately two years ago. The tender at Ropley was also ready but the chassis was marooned at Eastleigh. The Campbell Road bridge at the edge of the site, the only road access in, had been downgraded to a 14 ton limit. The road access has a sharp angle and it was not viable to take the chassis out by rail as NR refused permission on safety grounds, which Rebecca explained. Then Covid hit. The load to be taken out totalled 132 tons, it could not be shunted out by rail so how to resolve an apparently insoluble problem. In addition there was the issue of the limit on heritage lottery funding which is normally 5 years. Luckily this was extended given the circumstances. Favours were called in and help sought from, amongst others, Sir Peter Hendy. A way was found to shunt it out of the site where it could be picked up by road. It was all ready to go when the leaseholder of part of the track to be used pulled out 3 days before the planned move. After all the logistics to get this far, everything was at a stop again. In the meantime the bridge had been repaired and was back up a 44 ton weight limit. A structural engineering report was produced which showed that it could now be used with sufficient propping to enable the 132 load to pass over. The well known firm of Allelys were engaged for the job but Rebecca said that the Watercress Line did not film it just in case it failed. It succeeded, very tight round the sharp bend and over the bridge, on the 25th April 2024.
By September 2024 the chassis was assessed, and the boiler put on the frames for the first time in 10 years. Now there is an end in sight for the project and progress towards completion, hopefully, in March 2025. Tickets for the March 2025 event will go on sale in November 2024.
Questions and answers included why everything seems to overrun on costs. There are often challenges with heritage projects as more problems are often found once things are taken apart. Canadian Pacific faced the additional problems of dispersed teams working on the project as well as necessary regulations for heritage projects. There were also questions re Railway 200 to take place in 2025, as well as would Canadian Pacific run just on the Watercress or also on the mainline. Answer, fitting her for running on the mainline would cost something like £300,000 extra. However, she is likely to be loaned to other heritage railways after the first year. Questions on slam door stock and the use of fuels that are greener than coal followed. Rebecca spoke of work that is being done in this field even mentioning the idea of nuclear power! What she highlighted was good training for crews as this can make a big difference to the efficiency of burning coal - quality of coal and the best firing techniques are very important. There was also a question about cooperation and working together with other heritage railways which collaboration is very useful whether in education or practicalities.
The vote of thanks was given by Alan Nichols who took over from our late Fixtures Officer Tom Kolisch. It was thanks to Tom that Alan met Rebecca and could ask her to give this evening’s presentation. Rebecca’s devotion, energy and enthusiasm are clear to anyone who hears her speak.