GWR 1000 Class 1014 ''County of Glamorgan''
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No.1014 County of Glamorgan is a steam locomotive which is under construction as a "new-build" project, based at Didcot Railway Centre in Didcot, Oxfordshire. Unlike most other new-build projects which are underway and are building new members of lost classes like 2007 Prince of Wales and 2999 Lady of Legend it was decided to build a replica of one of the original County class engines, the chosen engine being 1014 (instead of the last built No.1029 County of Worcester or the last to be withdrawn No.1011 County of Chester)
Career
The original engine was built unnamed in February 1946 and was allocated to Bristol Bath Road. She received her name County of Glamorgan in March 1948 and during the same year she was taken into British Railways ownership. She received a double chimney in May 1958 and in September 1960 she was transferred to Bristol St Philip's Marsh. Further transfers during her career included to Neyland and Shrewsbury with her final shed allocation being at Swindon.
Allocations and history
The locations of the original 1014 on particular dates.
| 31 March 1946 (First Shed) | Bristol Bath Road, BRD then 82A |
| 10 September 1960 | Bristol St Philip's Marsh, 82B |
| 7 October 1961 | Neyland, 87H |
| 9 March 1963 | Shrewsbury, 89A |
| 29 September 1963 | Swindon, 82C |
| 4 April 1964 | Withdrawn |
| December 1964 | Scrapped at Cashmores Scrapyard, Newport |
Withdrawal and scrapping
She was withdrawn from Swindon's 82C shed in April 1964 with a running life of 18 years and 2 months. Following a period of storage after her withdrawal she was sent to Cashmore's scrapyard in Newport and was cut up in December 1964.
Construction of replica
Since none of the original County class engines survived into preservation (the last being 1011 County of Chester was withdrawn in November 1964 and sent straight for scrap at Cashmore's, Newport), it was decided by members at the Didcot Railway Centre to build a replica of one of the original engines from GWR & BR days instead of building the next member of the class as a large number of new build engines were being built at the time as new members of the class.
Parts from an original Modified Hall No. 7927 Willington Hall and LMS Stanier Class 8F No. 48518 have been used in the project (parts included the frames from 7927 and boiler from 48518), the frames of 48518 and boiler from 7927 later being sent to the Llangollen Railway with the boiler being used on new-build GWR 6800 Class 4-6-0 No. 6880 Betton Grange. Like other new-build projects, a large number of new parts have to be constructed which included the driving wheels as no other class of GWR engine other than the county's had 6 ft 3 in driving wheels and the wheels that had come with 7927 being 6 ft in size. Original County parts are also being used in the construction of 1014 which include an original chimney from 1006 County of Cornwall.
The original height of the County's was 13ft 5in, but the max height allowed for steam locomotives to work on the mainline by Network Rail because of overhead wires clearances is 13 ft 1 in. Because building the replica to its original height would result in only being able to operate it on heritage railway's as its height would be over the max allowed and because the engine's owners plan to operate the completed replica engine on the mainline, the engine is being built with a slightly smaller height. In order to operate on the mainline when completed, the engine will also require the fitment of: Speedometer, AWS, TPWS, OTMR & GSM-R.
There will also be some modifications done to the engine's tender as it is common now for engines to carry more water than they originally did and less coal because of there being no water column's on the mainline other than a few select locations (most stops being done by either hydrant's or roadside tankers) and the water troughs have long since disappeared. A support coach to carry tools and spare parts for the engine, as well as crew members, will also have to be examined. The plan is to not fit the engine with the required mainline equipment at first when completed, but when funding has been raised from running aswell as possible an appeal mandatory equipment will be fitted to the engine for future mainline operations.