Latest news - the boiler is in!
On Tuesday 16th August, the boiler was craned into the frames at Sheffield Park using a hired-in road crane. Speaking to a member of the team when I visited in July they said that once the boiler was in, there would be around 7-8 months' worth of plumbing (pipework) to install. After this, the loco would be moved from 'Atlantic House' into the main Works at Sheffield Park for the final stages of the work to be carried out including jobs which necesitate the use of the pit and the overhead crane. Completion of the new LBSCR H2 is now anticipated for the Autumn of 2023.
https://www.bluebell-railway.com/brps/whats_new/
The boiler for the new No.32424 'Beachy Head' is the main reason that the project was able to be undertaken. Back in the 1980s, building a brand new boiler was considered impossible (or at least impracticable) and this made the prospect of building a new-build locomotive a virtual non-starter. However, things changed in the late 80s with the discovery of four former steam locomotive boilers at a disused industrial premesis in Maldon, Essex which had been used to provide heating to the factory.
One of these was identified as an ex-Great Northern Railway C1 'Atlantic' boiler and, as the LBSCR H2 class were built using drawings slightly modified from the GNR design, this was purchased by the Bluebell Railway Atlantic Group. The boiler has since been found to have been stamped with the numbers 3287, 4440 & 3299 - all ex-GNR C1 class 'Atlantics'.
Further background reading:
https://www.bluebell-railway.co.uk/b...ackground.html
Tony