47793 Mangapps Farm 25 08 2007
Preserved 47793, 4 months after it arrived at Mangapps Farm Museum.
This is one of the few Healey Mills storage lines demics that survived and found a new home.
I had sighted it there in 2005 and 2006, so was chuffed to see it here (and John Jolly was chuffed to have it 😊 👍).
Built as D1778 at Brush Loughborough, (Works No. 540), it entered service with BR from the Falcon Works on 23 October 1964.
Initially delivered to BR's Eastern Region and to Tinsley Depot, it also had spells at Holbeck, Immingham and Stratford before it got its first number under TOPS in February 1974 (of 47183).
More moves in the rest of the 70s saw it at Immingham again, York & Healey Mills.
It then had its longest spell anywhere when based at Stratford from September 1979 to March 1990.
In March 1981, it got fitted with ETH and became Sub Class 47/4 No. 47579. 6 months later in 29 September, it got its first name of "James Nightall G.C." (a fitting railway nameplate that still lives on with EWS' 66079 carrying it for the last 18 years).
It was moved to Old Oak Common in April 1990 when the Anglia trains no longer needed ETH stock and locos and got its first official pool code in December (NWRA: Network SouthEast - Western Region Locos).
Many more pool codes followed:
12/9 1to NTWE (Network SouthEast - West of England Class 47)
03/93 to NTWH based at Eastleigh (Network SouthEast - (West of England) Eastleigh Class 47)
05/93 to NXXB back to Stratford (Network SouthEast - Stratford EMU Transfer Locos)
03/94 to EWTS (Trainload Freight South - Stratford Class 47 New Stock Delivery
10/94 to EWAS (Trainload Freight South - Stratford Class 47 (Acton/Reading))
By now sectorisation was in and it was under the Trainload sector, which soon became an EWS division under privatisation.
In EWS’ Railnet/ RES postal division, it quickly moved sectors (4 times in 2 months):
07/95 to EWRS (Trainload Freight South - Stratford Class 47 Restricted Use)
07/95 to PXLH based at Crewe Diesel (EWS Rail Express Systems - Crewe Class 47/4 (Hire 75mph Maximum)
07/95 back to EWRS and again back to Stratford
09/95 to PXLB again at Crewe Diesel (EWS Rail Express Systems - Crewe (CD) Class 47 (Railnet))
While in the last pool, it entered Crewe Works and was rebuilt as a Class 47/7 (wired for use with PCV postal vans).
It initially was allocated 47757, but never carried this number as it was late entering the RCH modifications program. Instead, it was released in December 1995 as 47793.
6 months later on 24 June 1996, it was named Saint Augustine. It then worked postal trains in its RES livery until January 1999 and after that, both RES and the more general pools until early 2004. Its pool moves were:
01/99 to WHDP (EWS - Crewe Diesel (CD) Class 47/7 (Railnet))
04/99 to WHDM (EWS - Crewe Diesel (CD) Class 47/7 (Railnet) Modified)
06/00 to WHDN (EWS - Crewe Diesel (CD) Class 47/7)
12/00 to WHCD (EWS - Crewe Diesel (CD) Class 47 (Railnet/General))
By January 2004, the end of its working life was looming.
It had survived defects in May 2001 and got a bogie change that June.
It was under "Special Tests" assessment in January 2003, but repairs and "reliability modifications" were approved and completed in February as was a repaint into EWS livery.
After repaint and while it was undergoing loadbank tests at Toton on 11 February 2003, it got its last nameplates of "Christopher Wren".
On 12 February 2004, it was stored with 3 others as part of EWS' run down of the class (lack of work after losing the postal contact work to road freight + 250 reliable new Class 66s locos).
The next day, EWS re-instated it on Humberside freight workings for the day😊😂.
Unfortunately that was its last hurrah and it arrived the next day at Healey Mills. 2 days later on 16 February 2004, it was officially stored WNTR from the WHCD pool.
Its only move after that was a visit to Knottingley for de-fuelling in June.
On 17 January 2007, EWS put 47793 up for sale and it was bought by the Jolly family for the Mangapps Railway Museum. On 1 April 2007, it was shunted to the Marcroft Sidings at Horbury, loaded on a trailer and left for Essex.
It arrived at Mangapps Farm on 3 April and entered preservation 😊 👍
The last known engine hours for 47793 was 7,632 in 2003. So hopefully it has many decades running up and down its one mile of track at Mangapps.
NB: Big thanks as usual for the data and gen providers:
Ian Furness for WNXX and and people running Class47.co.uk 🙏🙏
47793 Mangapps Farm 25 08 2007
Preserved 47793, 4 months after it arrived at Mangapps Farm Museum.
This is one of the few Healey Mills storage lines demics that survived and found a new home.
I had sighted it there in 2005 and 2006, so was chuffed to see it here (and John Jolly was chuffed to have it 😊 👍).
Built as D1778 at Brush Loughborough, (Works No. 540), it entered service with BR from the Falcon Works on 23 October 1964.
Initially delivered to BR's Eastern Region and to Tinsley Depot, it also had spells at Holbeck, Immingham and Stratford before it got its first number under TOPS in February 1974 (of 47183).
More moves in the rest of the 70s saw it at Immingham again, York & Healey Mills.
It then had its longest spell anywhere when based at Stratford from September 1979 to March 1990.
In March 1981, it got fitted with ETH and became Sub Class 47/4 No. 47579. 6 months later in 29 September, it got its first name of "James Nightall G.C." (a fitting railway nameplate that still lives on with EWS' 66079 carrying it for the last 18 years).
It was moved to Old Oak Common in April 1990 when the Anglia trains no longer needed ETH stock and locos and got its first official pool code in December (NWRA: Network SouthEast - Western Region Locos).
Many more pool codes followed:
12/9 1to NTWE (Network SouthEast - West of England Class 47)
03/93 to NTWH based at Eastleigh (Network SouthEast - (West of England) Eastleigh Class 47)
05/93 to NXXB back to Stratford (Network SouthEast - Stratford EMU Transfer Locos)
03/94 to EWTS (Trainload Freight South - Stratford Class 47 New Stock Delivery
10/94 to EWAS (Trainload Freight South - Stratford Class 47 (Acton/Reading))
By now sectorisation was in and it was under the Trainload sector, which soon became an EWS division under privatisation.
In EWS’ Railnet/ RES postal division, it quickly moved sectors (4 times in 2 months):
07/95 to EWRS (Trainload Freight South - Stratford Class 47 Restricted Use)
07/95 to PXLH based at Crewe Diesel (EWS Rail Express Systems - Crewe Class 47/4 (Hire 75mph Maximum)
07/95 back to EWRS and again back to Stratford
09/95 to PXLB again at Crewe Diesel (EWS Rail Express Systems - Crewe (CD) Class 47 (Railnet))
While in the last pool, it entered Crewe Works and was rebuilt as a Class 47/7 (wired for use with PCV postal vans).
It initially was allocated 47757, but never carried this number as it was late entering the RCH modifications program. Instead, it was released in December 1995 as 47793.
6 months later on 24 June 1996, it was named Saint Augustine. It then worked postal trains in its RES livery until January 1999 and after that, both RES and the more general pools until early 2004. Its pool moves were:
01/99 to WHDP (EWS - Crewe Diesel (CD) Class 47/7 (Railnet))
04/99 to WHDM (EWS - Crewe Diesel (CD) Class 47/7 (Railnet) Modified)
06/00 to WHDN (EWS - Crewe Diesel (CD) Class 47/7)
12/00 to WHCD (EWS - Crewe Diesel (CD) Class 47 (Railnet/General))
By January 2004, the end of its working life was looming.
It had survived defects in May 2001 and got a bogie change that June.
It was under "Special Tests" assessment in January 2003, but repairs and "reliability modifications" were approved and completed in February as was a repaint into EWS livery.
After repaint and while it was undergoing loadbank tests at Toton on 11 February 2003, it got its last nameplates of "Christopher Wren".
On 12 February 2004, it was stored with 3 others as part of EWS' run down of the class (lack of work after losing the postal contact work to road freight + 250 reliable new Class 66s locos).
The next day, EWS re-instated it on Humberside freight workings for the day😊😂.
Unfortunately that was its last hurrah and it arrived the next day at Healey Mills. 2 days later on 16 February 2004, it was officially stored WNTR from the WHCD pool.
Its only move after that was a visit to Knottingley for de-fuelling in June.
On 17 January 2007, EWS put 47793 up for sale and it was bought by the Jolly family for the Mangapps Railway Museum. On 1 April 2007, it was shunted to the Marcroft Sidings at Horbury, loaded on a trailer and left for Essex.
It arrived at Mangapps Farm on 3 April and entered preservation 😊 👍
The last known engine hours for 47793 was 7,632 in 2003. So hopefully it has many decades running up and down its one mile of track at Mangapps.
NB: Big thanks as usual for the data and gen providers:
Ian Furness for WNXX and and people running Class47.co.uk 🙏🙏