Slough Estates Ltd, No. 3

Slough Estates Ltd, No.3 is an 0-6-0ST steam locomotive, built in 1924 by Hudswell Clarke of Leeds, England. She worked for nearly 50 years on Slough Trading Estate, and then passed into preservation. She is now is the care of the Slough & Windsor Railway Society (SWRS), and is currently the only fully-working steam locomotive at the Swindon & Cricklade Railway.

Industrial Service

"No. 3" was supplied new for service on the internal railway of the Slough Trading Estate, and remained there for her entire working life. She was used to haul wagons between the factories on the Estate and Slough Goods Yard, which was sited adjacent to the GWR mainline between Paddington and Reading.

Following a series of national strikes that saw freight transfer from rail to road, plus the general decline in wagonload freight in the 1960s, and the conversion of the Trading Estate power station (latterly "Slough Heat and Power") from coal to oil, No.3's duties changed. Along with near-identical sister engine "No. 5", the remaining duties were the once-a-fortnight trip workings of 25T heavy oil tankers from the Goods Yard spur to the Power Station. A duty which ensured they were among the last steam locomotives working in industrial service in the south-east of England.

Unfortunately, around 1970 there was a move towards having the oil delivered in (the then relatively new) 100T bogie tank wagons. In order to transfer these to the power station, the track would need to be upgraded. It was discovered that it would be considerably cheaper to build a new unloading facility near the Goods Yard, and install a pipeline to the Power Station, rather than invest in the railway. Hence Slough Estates decided to close the railway, and dispose of the locomotives.

The pipeline runs along the course of the railway to the power station, from a siding off the (remains of) the Goods Yard. However, due to rising fuel prices, the facility is rarely used. The Power Station is now gas-fired, with oil-burning used as an emergency backup.

Preservation

Early Days

Thankfully the preservation movement had already started to gain serious momentum, by the time the Estates' railway closed, and both surviving engines avoided the scrapman's torch. "No.5" was sent to the Embsay Railway (at least, that's where it ended up; dunno if it went straight there!); while "No.3" was passed into the care of the embryonic Mid-Hants Railway (although it wasn't called that then).

On the Mid-Hants, "No.3" was one of the very first working locomotives, arriving before any of the line was opened to passenger services. Her history at the Watercress Line is somewhat hazy, but at some time, possibly even before revenue-earning services began, she was dismantled for a complete overhaul. Unfortunately (for "No.3"), other, larger, Southern Railway locomotives arrived and grabbed people's attention.

Poor "No.3" was left in the line of forgotten locos at Ropley, just a rolling chassis, with components scattered from one end of the yard to the other.

Restoration

At some stage, probably in the mid-1980s, "No.3"'s plight came to the attention of the SWRS, and Slough Estates transferred 'custodianship' of the engine to the SWRS. All remaining parts were rescued from Ropley (the firebox foundation ring was half-buried between the rails of one of the engine shed tracks!) Many parts were 'lost': the chimney, the smokebox door, one of the clack valves, the lubricator and the bell (etc)

The boiler was transferred to boilermakers Luggs of Billingshurst for rebuilding. A new firebox was needed, plus firebars (cast elsewhere) and a new smokebox. Luggs were fantastic, though, knowing that funds were short, boiler restoration proceeded at a 'when you can afford something' basis, with work being undertaken during slack periods. Overall, the process took something of the order of 10 years!

...remainder of restoration story...

Swindon & Cricklade Railway

At some stage SWRS had to move their railway operations from Stoke Place, and "No.3" was winched onto a low-loader for the trip down to Blunsdon. (EdJogg followed the low loader down the M4, between Slough and Reading, and clocked the speed at a good 60mph:- it must surely have been the fastest that "No.3" had ever travelled!)

Restoration was completed in the engine shed at Hayes Knoll, and included the fitting of train (vacuum) brakes and steam heating pipes (neither 'luxury' being required for an industrial loco).

In 20xy, "No.3" was steamed for the first time in 20-30 years.

Since then, "No.3" has been the only operational steam locomotive on the Swindon and Cricklade Railway

Information Wanted

There are some periods of No.3's history that are not well-documented:

• Did No.3 ever leave the Estate for overhaul?
  • If so, where and when?

• At the Mid-Hants Railway:
  Little is known about No.3's time on the Mid Hants, and many of those volunteers then involved are no longer around (either the MHR in particular, or life in general!) Also, there are few photos, except some taken once the SWRS were involved (by which time she had been utterly dismantled). So:
  • When did No.3 arrive at the MHR (precise date please)?
  • Was No.3 steamed at the MHR?
    • If so, for what purposes? Any photos?
  • Was she dismantled before public services started on the line?
    • If not, did she pull any service trains?
  • When was she dismantled? and when was it decided that her rebuilding would be postponed?
  • Where are her missing components?

• In addition: photos of No.3 in service on the Slough Estates Railway are always welcome (especially if the copyright can be released to the SWRS, although this is a secondary issue).

Please contact TSW User 'Edjogg' if you can help with any of these requests,
and/or contact the SWRS directly (see website). Thank you.

See also

Slough Estates Ltd, No.5 (link)

No.3's near-identical sister is also 'preserved', out-of-use, at the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway in Yorkshire (link). After transfer from the Slough Estates Railway she was not allowed to get into the same run-down state as No.3, and has since been overhauled twice at Embsay. However, she now requires a third overhaul, which is thought to be 'very major', so the immediate intention is to restore her cosmetically for storage/display in the museum building, currently under construction..

(There have been suggestions that the SWRS should bring No.5 to Swindon, to join No.3. However, whether through the lack of funds for her restoration, or the natural unwillingness of the Embsay to release the engine, this has not, so far, come to anything.)

Incidentally, although No.3 and No.5 were built to the same design, there are some detail differences which allow them to be distinguished in photographs. The less-obvious difference is the position of the lamp bracket on the coal bunker! The more-obvious difference is that No. 3 has ROUND sandboxes at the front, whereas No.5's are SQUARE. There are other differences since preservation, due to the replacement of missing parts, or upgrades for steam heating (etc), however, since the two engines live several hundred miles apart, it is less necessary to know these for identification purposes!

External links

• No.3's entry at steamlocomotive.info – which needs expanding!