26 March 2019 · Clan Line

Presenter: Chris Meredith

Chris gave a brief outline of his early contact with the Merchant Navy class of steam locomotives as a child living in Broadstairs, before providing an outline of the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society (MNLPS) formed at the end of 1965 by Tony Clare and brothers Maurice and Gerry Walker.35028 Clan Line was selected as being the most recent in the class to have undergone a major overhaul in 1959 and because it was regarded as being in the best condition.Initially BR quoted a price of £2500 with a number of conditions attached to the purchase but eventually Clan Line was bought in August 1967 for £2200 just over a month after being withdrawn from service in July 1967.It first entered service in December 1948 in malachite green livery and its working history ranged from the start at Bournemouth in 1948, through a colour change to BR blue, before ending up at Nine Elms for its last three months of operation.By this time it had done 794,391 miles in total, 393,386 of these since being rebuilt in 1959.The MNLPS initially housed it at the Longmoor Military Railway before that closed and after a number of other moves it is now based at Stewarts Lane where it was based in 1950.The prime objective was to keep the locomotive well maintained, and running on the national rail network.The secondary objective has always been for the Society to be self-financing and this has been achieved.

Chris moved very swiftly over his own railway history working for 41 years on the railways first with BR and later as Charter Timings Manager for Network Rail.He joined the Mid Hants Railway Preservation Society around 1998, is a working member of the MNLPS and is also currently chair of RCTS Croydon Branch.

Next came some excellent photographs to illustrate how Clan Line is now used, for example with the nameplate and regalia for The Golden Arrow and the British Pullman, working to recreate as far as possible both of these historic services.It is quite an impressive sight to see it at the head of an equally well maintained rake of historic coaches.There may be safety requirements such as having the back up of a diesel locomotive on the rear as ‘insurance’ although experienced drivers ensure that this is very rarely required.

The MNLPS usually work out timings for the charters themselves including allowances for watering stops, inspecting the facilities etc and some of the photographs showed exactly what this involves in preparatory planning.Where there is less time available in a schedule, then it is possible to double pump as the locomotive has two filling pipes and both can be used at the same time, and again Chris had an excellent photograph to illustrate this in practice.Where the locomotive has to be turned, these facilities too have to be inspected and checked in advance and Chris showed an instance where very careful measurements had to be taken because of a fence erected rather close to the turntable – just enough room on this occasion.Every detail has to be carefully worked out in advance.

Chris then moved on to preparation and disposal which means exactly what it says.There is much work to be done to prepare Clan Line every time before going out and the crew are there to make sure that the correct set of nameplates and matching regalia are in place – generally reproductions as the originals are quite valuable and have to be kept securely.There are the final touches to ensure that it is in pristine condition, that the coaling has been done properly – the original tender held about 5 tons but this has been extended to take approximately 7.5 to 8 tons with the extended section flat which means that the last of the coal needs to be shovelled forward.Then there are all the other tasks that need to be completed before it is ready for the next run out – the fitness to run checks, checking the support coach and checking that all systems are working properly.At the end of the journey, there is another set of tasks with the boiler having to be blown down to clear all the sludge before entering back into the shed for cleaning, servicing and any maintenance that is required. Chris provided information on the sort of work that might need to be done as routine and what is needed as more major levels of work are required, with photographs showing the attention to detail with regards to the engineering.He took great delight in describing the 6 monthly boiler wash out where the water comes out decidedly ‘yucky’ initially but eventually runs clear.There were details about protecting the bodywork, the water treatment used to prevent or at least reduce limescale internally in the boiler, plus the myriad of other jobs required to keep the locomotive in top condition and ready to work.

After the break Chris went on to talk about some of the charters – Clan Line will do approximately 20 in a good year and the experience can be quite magical in the right conditions.Some scenes today are very different from the past with skylines almost unrecognisable in places and a few older photographs as well as current ones were shown as illustration of some of the changes over Clan Line’s lifetime.He also gave an outline of the maintenance programme and the ingenuity required at times.Some of the final photographs showed Clan Line together with a 7¼” gauge working model with the correctly modelled non-standard oil box, together with an OO gauge model too – Clan Line in three sizes at once!

Questions and answers included how long would it be possible to keep Clan Line running: answer – as long as possible with efforts to earn enough for the next overhaul before it becomes due each time; there was discussion about younger people coming on to take over the work of keeping both locomotive and organisation going; the importance of volunteers and what job opportunities there are; did Clan Line ever have a Southern number: answer no, as it was built in 1948, so it only ever had a BR number.

The vote of thanks highlighted the excellent photographs, the interesting presentation including history and the work involved in running a steam locomotive and keeping it in top condition.Clan Line is credit to all who work on it whether directly or indirectly, and to Chris for his part in it all.