Template:Featured picture/May 2013
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Prince is (probably) the third of the first four locomotives. It is now numbered No. 2 but there is doubt about the order of building and numbering of the first four England engines. It was delivered to the FR in January 1864. These locomotives were worked hard; before the arrival of Taliesin they were coming in for a 2 week period of maintenance every quarter. In this period they would replace brake blocks, brasses and cotter pins in the crank pins as well as replacing some of the firebars. In 1878 Prince had its chimney knocked off and that of Mountaineer was put on. By May 1881 Prince was in a poor state with the boiler pressure restricted to 110lbs. It had a major refit with a 'sham' cast iron tank fitted on top of the side tanks to increase the weight to ten tons and improve adhesion in wet weather, a new weather board, new sandboxes, new cylinders and the boiler retubed. The new owners in 1954 found the loco as left in 1946, in mid overhaul and with a new boiler. It was the obvious candidate for first loco to be restored. It first ran in preservation on August 2nd 1955 and was the mainstay of the service for the next 2 years. By 1962 Prince was in need of a major overhaul and was given a different frame arrangement, to try and take the drawbar load through the frames and not the boiler. This was the form in which it ran for its Centenary in 1963. Prince's 2012/2013 overhaul was completed by passing its official steam test on 8th April prior to visiting London to be in steam at Acton Lane Depot over the weekend of 13/14 April. Photo credit: Chris Jones |