Steam Railways in Preservation in the 1980-90s August 26 – September 2 1988 – ‘Bahamas’

 

45596 Bahamas

  13 December 2012  Thomas’s Pics
Licensing:  Creative Commons  attribution This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Saturday, August 6th, saw LMS Jubilee ‘Bahamas’ in steam and carrying out some light engine movements at Dinting Railway Centre, for the first time in fifteen years. Visitors to the Centre on that day received a bonus, although the engine was unfinished as far as the painting goes, no problems were evident and the locomotive ran perfectly.
The race is now on to complete the painting in time for the big event of 1988 at the Centre, which will be the 21st anniversary of the Centre itself and the re-commissioning of the Jubilee.

Boiler repairs became necessary during 1973 and Bahamas was taken out of service to become a static exhibit at the Society’s home at the Dinting Railway Centre.
Work on the restoration of other locomotives by Society volunteers prevented a start on the overhaul of Bahamas until 1980. It was to be a further eight years before the overhaul was completed, at a cost of £16,000. All the work was undertaken by Society members, who effected a saving in the region of £50,000 when compared with the cost of similar work undertaken by contract firms at that time.
Restored to its authentic British Railways condition, Bahamas successfully operated 37 railtours on the main line between 1989 and 1994, covering more than 12,000 miles before its main-line certificate became due for renewal. It was praised by both enthusiasts and professional railwaymen, and earned itself an enviable reputation for excellent reliability and good performance.
Then followed visits to various heritage railways until the expiry of its boiler certificate in 1997 resulted in its withdrawal from operation.
The engine then went on public display in the museum of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway at Oxenhope, where it stayed until 2012 when it was invited to attend the ‘Railfest’ event at the National Railway Museum in York. Its stay at York was extended until the following year, when it returned to Ingrow.
It was during 2012 that an application was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable the overhaul of Bahamas to be undertaken by contractors and thus speed the process of its return to working order. The bid was successful, and by December 2013 work had commenced on the boiler, wheels and frames at the Tyseley Locomotive Works. See the Work in Progress page for updates with the project.  http://ingrowlocomuseum.com/?page_id=352