STANDARD ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 No. 73156 made a triumphant return to Great Central Railway (GCR) service during the line’s Good Galore gala on May 12-13, casting aside memories of its ignominious debut last October.
The loco had spent the previous seven months out of traffic, its coupled wheelsets having been sent to the South Devon Railway for attention to its crank pins.
This was to rectify motion alignment issues that had plagued the ‘5MT’ in its first few months of service. It was re-wheeled on April 18 and worked a test train on May 4, performing faultlessly.
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The rejuvenated loco maintained a clean sheet throughout the Goods Galore weekend, although suggestions it would carry different identities during the weekend came to nought.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for fellow BR Standard – ‘2MT’ 2-6-0 No. 78018 – which was failed during the weekend with a tender bearing problem, and was replaced by Ivatt’ ‘2MT’ No. 46521.
Read more in the June issue of The RM – on sale now!
