Tenders that have been used with loco 2874

It was not uncommon for the Great Western Railway to swap tenders when a loco came into the works for major attention -

the tender would often be available for further service sooner than the loco and could be reused.  

Though the listing below shows that one tender (number 1718) was with loco 2874 for 11years during which time the loco went through three general overhauls -

so there was obviously no hard and fast rule.

The favoured tender for the heavy freight class was a Churchward 3,500 gallon model - 2874 had a total of 12 of this type coupled over her 45 year working life.

A new tender, number 2111 was coupled to the loco in November 1918  -

subsequent changes were:

Date Tender Number
July 1922 2006
August 1925 1900
August 1930 1718
May 1941 1783
March 1943 2320
December 1948 2019
January 1951 2009
November 1952 1936
March 1954 2081
February 1957 1967
April 1960 2175

We have received some information from Terry Rippingale who bought 2874 from Woodhams in 1987.

2874 did not have a tender attached in the scrap yard -

Terry also bought loco 3855 which had a tender attached (until seperated with a gas axe by Cliff, the Woodhams foreman)  this was moved along with the other purchases by Mike Lawrence to Blaenavon.  

The logistics of unloading meant that the tender from 3855 was parked immediately behind 2874

leading to the assumption that they belonged together.

Some time later, Terry sold 3855 with the tender that he had intended using with 2874 (this may have come from 2873).

When 2874 was sold to the West Somerset Railway, the tender from 3855 went with it.  

When the loco was sold by the WSR they retained the tender with the intention of restoring it for use behind their own loco Odney Manor.  That restoration has been slow to progress though the frames have recieved a great deal of attention - the wheelsets from the tender are currently (2020) being used on another of the WSR's tenders but we understand the intention is still to complete the full restoration in due course.

The 2874 Trust do not currently have a tender but have made a number of attempts to acquire a historically compatible one - however, if we cannot find what we need (and the originals are now very, very rare!) we do have a plan as to how we get an authentic one in due course. 

  

 

 

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