The 7200 Trust is well advanced with the restoration of Great Western 2-8-2 tank engine no. 7200, but needs additional funds for the boiler so that the final stage of 7200's overhaul can be completed.
7200 was built in 1930, originally as a 2-8-0T numbered 5275, at a cost of£4,380 that included £933 for the boiler. The class was built specifically for service on South Wales coal traffic, with their great adhesion weight proving useful on the steeply graded lines of the Welsh valleys. However, as a result of the Wall Street crash of 1929 by 1930 South Wales coal and steel exports were dwindling and many of the class had little to no work.
CME Charles Collett found a solution to the problem of the already redundant engines by extending the rear of the frames and fitting a larger bunker so that more coal and water could be carried. With a greater distance range, this made the new 2-8-2T 7200 class found use in other parts of the GWR network.
5275 was the first locomotive converted to a 2-8-2T arrangement, with modifications costing £200. Now re-numbered 7200, at various times it was allocated to Llanelli and withdrawn from there on 9 October 1963. After withdrawal, it was sold to Woodham's at Barry in South Wales, where it remained in the huge locomotive graveyard for eighteen years. In September 1981, 7200 left Barry for the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre where it stood in a siding for a further fifteen years.
In 1998, The 7200 Trust was formed and began the restoration which after a quarter-century is now nearing completion. £135,000 is needed to complete the final restoration work of the boiler at HBSS, Liverpool., of which £45,000 has already been raised, meaning a further £90,000 is required to complete the work.
The Trust is asking people to support its work by becoming a 7200 club member and paying a regular monthly subscription, or by making a one-off donation, large or small, to its Boiler Fund through its webpage at https://www.7200trust.org.uk/donate. Alternatively, a membership application form can be downloaded here.
