NGG16 no. 140

The WHR's third NGG16 was acquired through the generosity of a group of German and Swiss enthusiasts, and was on static display at the 1997 FR Gala (above), after which it remained in extended store at Glan y Pwll depot on the Ffestiniog. The red livery in which it was received from the ACR (and which may well be retained) is that originally applied to this batch of NGG16s; they were built not for South African Railways but for the Tsumeb Corporation Ltd, which produced copper. However they passed directly into SAR service on arrival in Africa, as the Tsumeb's line for which they were intended had been converted to 3'6" "Cape" gauge. Despite having lain out of use for some time in South Africa, No. 140 has proved to be in generally good condition, having been extensively overhauled at the Durban workshops of SAR.

Peter Bagshawe's picture shows no. 140 on the first stage of its journey to Wales, with a number of flat wagons also destined for the WHR on the same train. The special train hauled by Spoornet no. 37.097 is seen passing Umtentweni on February 10th 1997.

The livery has given rise to the nickname "The Red Devil", although this really belongs to another NGG16, which is still in South Africa.

In late 2002 no. 140 was moved out of Glan y Pwll carriage shed and into the adjacent yard, after some five and a half years.

The time for no. 140 to move to Dinas came in early 2005. This arose from forward planning for operation of the complete WHR, and for maintaining services when the curent boiler tickets of the other two NGG16s expire, which will mean at least some overhaul work (138 in 2008, 143 in 2009). In the shorter term, overhauled power units from no. 140 could be used as exchange units if either of the operational locos needs them, prior to the complete no. 140 entering service. The loco was split into its component parts at Glan y Pwll in February, with a pair of "ambulance bogies" being taken from Dinas to support the boiler unit. The front tank and rear boiler units were unloaded at Dinas on February 21st, together with the upper cab section; 140 still has the original type of cab, whose upper section can be removed; this was to keep NGG16 boiler units within the loading gauge when transported on 3'6" gauge wagons.

The power unit underframes were moved on March 7th and 8th. Getting them into the workshop area at Dinas was quite an involved task, as the lorry could not pass under the road bridge leading into Dinas South Yard; panels of Jubilee track were put in place temporarily (on the old NWNGR/WHR formation, which the present railway does not use at this point), and a JCB was used to provide the necessary pull.

Stripping started immediately, with the cowcatcher and cylinder cladding/lagging removed on the day of arrival. The tanks had already been investigated internally, and appeared sound, after removal of loose rust from inside the water tank, and material including the remains of the last load of coal burned in South Africa had been cleared from the bunker. However the chimney, which had been stored in the bunker, was found to have wasted around its base, and will require remedial work.

Motion parts were moved to Dinas ahead of the power units, in late January 2005. It was noted - as an illustration of how parts were rotated in South African service - that none of the four connecting rods originated with no. 140. Two came from no. 141, also built in 1958, one from no. 116 of 1939, and one from Hanomag-built NGG13 no. 49 of 1928 (which has been recently restored by our partners the Sandstone Heritage Trust in South Africa).

In mid-April, the front bogie, which had been moved into the workshop after initial pressure cleaning, had its brake rigging and other components stripped off, and was then lifted off its wheelsets using the ex-Channel Tunnel jacks, ready for the wheelsets to go to Boston Lodge for attention on the wheel lathe. Stripping has revealed that horn guide slippers and axleboxes are in good condition, with some routine attention needed such as re-metalling of at least two axleboxes. In general the mechanical condition has been found to be at least as good as expected, and in some cases better than that of 138 after its initial overhaul in Africa!

At the start of May work was in hand to re-bore the piston valve bores, which were found to have been slightly pear-shaped, and stripping and assessment of components were continuing, with motion pins and bushes next for attention. Painting of the chassis was also expected to happen at an early stage. Rob Bradley's pictures below convey, among other details, the massive construction of NGG16 components compared to most narrow gauge locos.

The bogies have been given letter designations. 140's front and rear units are E & F respectively, so presumably 138's are A & B, and 143 has C & D. This is in line with Ffestiniog practice for Fairlie power bogies, and hints at a developing policy of interchanging NGG16 bogies in the future.

The boiler unit was moved by road from Glan y Pwll to Dinas on June 9th 2005, and it is seen below mounted on the ambulance bogies, standing on the headshunt north of Dinas carriage shed.

By mid-July stripping of the boiler for assessment was under way, with all backhead fittings removed and the rocker grate and arch removed from the firebox. At the other end of the Dinas site, work was well advanced on the top end power unit. The frames were being stripped down to bare metal and treated with corrosion resistant primer, as seen in the left-hand picture below. The right-hand one shows piston and valve bores after reboring. Work was also in hand on the mechanical lubricator and associated pipework; some pipes are missing but the lubricator has been found to be in good order.

The boiler unit was moved to the headshunt in the South Yard by the end of July 2005, where stripping continued, leading to the last of the cladding being removed on August 18th. Initial impressions of the revealed boiler remained good, with a few items looking likely to need attention, such as some wasted rivets on the dome foundation ring, and areas of inner and outer firebox close to the foundation ring, where wet ash had remained. Work then turns to protective painting of the boiler shell, and removal of the boiler tubes - which will require more work than usual, as in addition to the various components that need to be removed for access to them, they were very carefully welded in place at the firebox end, presumably at the last retubing in South Africa.

The two pictures below show work on the boiler in progress in early 2006, with tubes and superheater flues being removed. In the internal picture on the right, the heavy build-up of scale and boiler compound may suggest that regular washouts were not carried out while the loco was last in use, on the Alfred County Railway; although cleaning it out requires hard work with high pressure water lances, it is likely that this material will have helped to protect the boiler shell.

140's boiler may see its first WHR use in no. 143 after that loco's boiler ticket expires in 2009, or as a last resort could be used in no. 138 in 2008 if this is a quicker option than overhaul of no. 138's own boiler.

140's boiler unit was moved from the South Yard into Dinas Station sidings in May 2006, and is seen below forming an interesting comparison with NG15 no. 133.

The power units are in the South Yard, one of them yet to be started on, and the other at an advanced stage of overhaul in the Machine Shop. The frames were on display at Super Power 2005 (below).

Wheelsets were taken to Boston Lodge for attention, and two are seen below in December 2005, with tyres turned, paint applied, and journals protected for transit back to Dinas and storage until reinstallation.

In Summer 2006 work was in progress on machining new pistons and various brass and bronze bushes.

140's plates remained in South Africa - leading to erroneous reports that the loco was still in use there! - and replacements have been cast from patterns made by volunteer Martin Coombs. They are in the same style as 138's.

140's boiler was lifted from its cradle on October 27th 2006, and both were placed on flat wagons.

The work on no. 140 is being led by volunteers, including the established Team Wylfa but also needing more participants. See Volunteering Projects.

Volunteers are seen below working on de-scaling the boiler shell on December 12th 2006, as part of the preparations for its initial official inspection to determine exactly what work is needed on it. Other components are seen in the workshop.

The cleaned up boiler shell is seen below in February 2007, with dedicated needle gun work led by Team Wylfa to remove all the scale that had accumulated largely done, but with some traces remaining (visible as pink within the boiler barrel). Pending the boiler inspector's expert examination the boiler was still understood to be in good condition. Corroded rivets around the crown of the dome foundation ring (second picture) were noted as a possible area for attention. The firebox would require ultrasonic thickness measurements, especially around the foundation ring, to ascertain what remedial work may be required. The firebox pictures show numerous copper ferrules still present after removal of the tubes, and also remains of weld from where tube ends had been peened over and welded to the tubeplate, which would require careful removal by grinding.

Work had also started on renovation of the rocking grate; this boiler arrived from South Africa still equipped for coal burning.

The boiler (given a protective coat of paint by West Midlands volunteers after Team Wylfa's descaling work) and cradle were moved outside the Goods Shed to make space for the May 2007 beer festival.