I suppose the 3405 story really began in
February 1987 when I went out to South Africa for the first time. I knew that
there was some narrow gauge steam still operating but it was only when I
obtained a copy of Steam On The Veld from my local library that I realised
the scale of steam operations and the size of the locomotives !
In 1987, there were still
more than 500 steam locomotives in service with the South African Transport
Services (Ex SAR), the vast majority being British built and about 25 steam
sheds were still open. In addition to the main line engines, hundreds of older
SAR types had been sold into industrial service so many locomotives dating back
to the 19th century could still be seen in action.
On that first trip I was based
in Johannesburg and therefore concentrated mainly on the Transvaal steam
operations but I met fellow enthusiast Richard Niven on a railtour and he told
me about the 25NCs at Kimberley. Just before I was due to return home, the two
of us decided to make a long day trip down to the Karoo to see the 25NCs in
action on the main line to De Aar.
I'll never forget that day !
The sun shone from dawn till dusk and Beaconsfield shed was overflowing with
engines ! Virtually every train we saw on the main line was hauled by 25NCs
and many of the heavier trains were double headed.
All too soon it was over and
I had to return to England but by then I had aquired an appetite for South
African steam and I saved every spare penny so I could go back eight months later
for a massive shed bash with Richard. In November 1987 we visited 21 of the
remaining operational steam sheds covering about 3,000 miles and noting nearly 600 steam locos in
the process !
Richard and I kept in touch
after that and it was his letter to me in Dec 1988 ? that really gave me the
idea to start the N.B.L.S. Richard told
me that the SATS had started scrapping their strategic reserve of nearly 200
engines at De Aar and asked if enthusiasts in the U.K. could help to save some
of them.
At first I thought what on
earth can we do, we were talking about saving 200 tons of metal and shipping it
6,000 miles back to Britain ! Still, as they say, nothing ventured nothing
gained so I decided to write to various UK railway magazines to test the water.
One of my grandfathers was from Glasgow and Id always had a keen interest in Scottish steam so, as more than half
the engines left in South Africa were NBL built, the idea for the Society was
born.
Railway World kindly
published my press release in their March 1989 edition and I had three
replies. Nick Newport, Dave Wellington and xxxxx. With Richard and myself plus
my then fiancee Karen as membership secretary we had the vast total of six
members ! Nothing daunted, I began writing to the South African Transport
Services asking them if they would be prepared to donate a locomotive to our
new Society.
I had no idea who to write
to so in the end I sent about 20 letters to anyone who I thought was a senior
position on SATS and after some months trying I received a kindly note from Dr.
Andre Strauss thanking me for all your letters to our Transport Services !
Dr. Strauss told me that he had recently been made Preservation Manager and
that he would be dealing with all correspondence regarding disposal of steam
locomotives. This was our first major breakthrough as Dr. Strauss proved to be
very helpful and sympathetic to our cause.
As Nick and Dave both worked
for British Airways, our first meetings were held at a pub in Longford, down by
Heathrow airport and as the weeks went by and membership started to grow we
moved to the Peggy Bedford pub on the A4. This was even nearer to the Airport
and at one time we thought of changing our name to the British Airways
Locomotive Society !
The famous wildlife artist
David Shepherd had taken a keen interest in the project and kindly agreed to
become our Society President. We all
agreed that a class 25NC should be our main target as they were the largest and
most impressive engines still in regular service and there was every chance
that a complete locomotive in full working order could be obtained when the
class was withdrawn
The engine would obviously
need a home in the UK and our first choice was Quainton as it was an
established centre, close to our membership base and offered excellent
facilities for restoration. I well remember coming up to Quainton and walking
round the site looking for someone to ask if theyd like a 25NC to display !
Luckily I was directed to Roy Miller and the rest as they say is history !
By the end of 1989, South
African steam was in sharp decline and in February 1990 I made another major
tour of the country which culminated in a stay with Andre Strauss and a
meeting in the SATS Museum at Johannesburg
Station. At the meeting, the SATS Museum
agreed in principle that a Class 25NC would be donated to the NBLS but
they wanted to wait until after the Kimberley Steam Festival as they were going
to donate a Class 15F to the David Shepherd Foundation first.
Nothing had actually been
put in writing so we then spent several months waiting for confirmation that we
would actually be getting and engine. On xx xxx 1991, a fax finally came
through to my firms office at Luton giving us the wonderful news that 25NC No.
3405 had been reserved for us at Bethlehem depot and that we should make
arrangements for collection as soon as possible !!
By this time our membership
had grown to more than 100 and fund raising was progressing well. One of our
early members, Mike Daly had discovered that the Science Museum were able to
provide grant aid up to 10,000 for
appropriate projects and Nick followed this up eventually obtaining the
maximum sum. We needed every penny as the total shipping and transport costs
came to more than 25,000.
Fortunately for us, Nick was
flying regularly to South Africa at that time so he was able to negotiate a
very reduced rate for the rail haulage of
No.3405 from Bethlehem to Durban. One odd stipulation of the SATS
arrangements was that an owners representative had to be available to travel
with the locomotive for the full trip.
As this involved a footplate ride of more than 400 kilometers through some of
the most beautiful scenery in Africa, there was no shortage of volunteers and
in the end Roy was the lucky man to make the trip.
No. 3405 finally left
Bethlehem shed on 15th September 1991 for the journey to Durban, Roy
said that she ran like a sewing machine !
I'd managed to obtain three
shipping quotations for 3405s epic voyage back to the UK with Ellerman Harrison
Lines proving the most competitive. Arrangements were made to load the loco
aboard the MV Ango at Durban but we had little idea of just how problematic the
task would prove to be !
Nick and Roy met up at
Durban Docks for the arduous task of
separating the loco from the tender. This proved very difficult working
in the open air with minimum tools and at one point it seemed that there was a
real danger of missing our sailing !
Once parted, the engine and tender were to be winched onto separate
trailers and towed onto the ship by the docks local tractor units.
We had engaged Andrew
Goodman from Allelys Heavy Haulage to supervise this task as he had a great
deal of experience in locomotive road haulage and this proved a very fortunate
move as Durbans tractors were woefully inadequate for the job and it took
numerous attempts to get the engine onto the ship ! Eventually however, No.
3405 was loaded aboard and securely lashed to the deck. So securely in fact
that Nick told me if the ship had turned over, the engine would have stayed
lashed to the deck upside down !
After almost six weeks at
sea, the MV Ango, with 3405 safely aboard, arrived at Southampton docks on
October 23rd 1991 to be greeted by a large contingent of NBLS
members and numerous press photographers. This was party time for us, the
culmination of three years hard work and we enjoyed every moment. After several
days delay at the docks due to the need to clear customs and complete the
necessary paperwork formalities, our 25NC finally arrived at Quainton on Monday
28th October.
There were one or two minor
problems with unloading (and hopefully Quainton will eventually forgive for almost uprooting their gatepost !)
but by late evening, Andrew Goodman was
very pleased to hand over No. 3405 to a happy band of NBLS volunteers.
It was probably only then
that the full enormity of what we had achieved really hit us. A relatively
small group had successfully saved and repatriated the largest and most
powerful single framed steam locomotive in the UK. The first 25NC on British
soil for 37 years and a former Blue Train regular to boot. It was a very proud
moment for all of us - let restoration commence !