Friends of the Rail Forum

Today I spent a few hours cleaning and inspecting 3020, assisted by Benson, who is also going to be involved with some marketing for the museum (and whose full-time job is making features for KTN, the national broadcaster, so he hopes one day to make one on 3020).

The loco seems complete and in pretty good nick. I was pleasantly surprised to find so many tools on the engine (including a heavy hammer, the most useful tool of all!). Next week I'll bring padlocks for the tool boxes.

Generally she's very dirty, with thick layers of caked mud and grease on the lower parts. Sand from the sandboxes has leaked all over the motion, creating a nice grinding paste. The oil pots are disgusting, and it will be quite a long job to clean them all out, although it's good to see that all the trimmings are still there.

I had a look underneath and again at first glance, through the grime, everything looks intact. I discovered one of the pitfalls of oil-fired locos when I trod in a patch of thick slimy oil in the gloom of the inspection pit, a problem you don't have with coal-firing. Luckily I had my regulation navvy boots on so no harm was done.

We made a start on the footplate and the motion at the front end. Next week we'll continue - this will take a while.

Photos by John Ashworth 12th September 2009

Good job. What is 3020? Class? Type? From UK? Year? Last used?

Class 30 2-8-4 (Tribal Class)

No 3020, Nyaturu, was built at North British Locomotive Works, Glasgow, Scotland, 1955

Last steamed November 2008 for a test (and for a passenger train that was cancelled at short notice by Rift Valley Railway). Not sure when she last hauled a train, but it might have been December 2004, after she had been restored.

More details (link):

3020 Nyaturu

North British Tribal Class 2-8-4

A development of the 29 class with a water capacity of 7000 gallons for use on the Central Line of Tanzania between Morogoro and Tabora. Numbered 3001 - 3026 the locos entered service in 1955. Nyaturu was withdrawn in 1980.

Leading Dimensions

Boiler Pressure 200 lbs/sq.in
Grate Area 38 sq.ft
Heating Surface 2272 sq.ft
Cylinders 18 in x 26 in
Driving Wheel diameter 4 ft 0 in
Weight 77.7 tons
Tractive Effort 29835 lbs
Water Capacity 7000 gals
Fuel Capacity 1950 gals

Glancing at Paxton and Bourne's Locomotives of the South African Railways it looks as if the Kenyan class 30 is fractionally less powerful than South Africa's 19D and slightly more than a 24, roughly the same size and weight, but with smaller wheels. But I seem to remember reading somewhere that South African statistics show tractive effort at a different percentage to most others, so it's difficult to compare figures directly. Any experts out there?

Another few hours spent cleaning 3020 today. Benson brought half a dozen young volunteers to help. None were born when 3020 was manufactured in 1955; most had never seen a steam engine; one girl told me she'd seen steam engines in a book. They worked hard and enthusiastically. I'm so sorry I forgot my camera this morning, as it would have been great to record young Kenyans working on their country's railway heritage, and also because we made a lot of visible progress. We did get interviewed by KTN at the end, so who knows, we might be on TV.

We cleaned the boiler, the wheels, the motion and about half the oil pots, as well as washing the inside of the cab down thoroughly with soap. We opened the smokebox. It looks OK. A bit of discoloration around three or four tube ends. The drain plug in the bottom of the smokebox has no thread and is basically just a pin wedged in the hole, which may affect steaming a bit.

Had a good chat with Maurice. He hopes to get the old steam fitters to check the loco within the next couple of weeks and have a test steaming soon after, with the possibility of a steam train before the end of the year if all goes well. Benson is exploring the domestic tourist market - weddings, corporate outings, etc - so if this gets off the ground it won't have to depend totally on the overseas tourist and steam enthusiast market.

I'll be in UK on annual leave for the next three weeks. Maurice and I discovered that our trips coincide, so we might even meet up in London; if not, we found we're flying home on the same Kenya Airways flight so we'll see each other at Heathrow. Benson and volunteers will continue cleaning.

Last week I had lunch with Roger Tanner, who was very involved in earlier steam safaris. It was very interesting to hear some of the concrete experiences and challenges which they faced.

Well done at all the progress!

Nice work, lets see how you progress with her and some before and after phots.