Shed47 Railway Restoration Group was established in 1997 at the former Lathalmond Royal Navy Stores Department, four miles north of Dunfermline and just a stone’s throw away from the Forth Railway Bridge. Despite being located at a remote site in the Fife countryside, it had its own internal railway network and was connected by rail to the nearby Royal Navy Base at Rosyth (now owned by Babcock Marine), for which it served as a duplicate store in the event of the base itself being hit during the second world war. The original WWII Royal Navy locomotive shed (Shed 47) has, over the past 28 years, subsequently seen a group of keen and dedicated volunteers restore a collection of diesel locomotives, four of which have been kindly donated by Babcock’s at Rosyth.

As well as having custody of Barclay, Hunslet and Ruston diesel locomotives, we are also in the process of restoring an Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 steam locomotive (AB 1142/1908), affectionately known as ‘No. 29’. It was built for the Fife Coal Company in 1908 for service at the Mary Colliery in Lochore, it then went on to serve locally for the National Coal Board, and in latter days was to be seen at Lindsay Colliery in Kelty (1963), Cowdenbeath, Bogside Mine (March 1970), and Frances Colliery (January 1971). Although No.29 was a very useful machine, the surplus of larger 16 inch 0-4-0s in the Scottish Area finally led to No.29 being withdrawn after it had been sent to Cowdenbeath Works for overhaul assessment in the 1970s. The locomotive now sits inside Shed 47 with various work progressing, awaiting boiler repairs before final reassembly and return to steam service.

The boiler has recently been pressure-tested by a boiler inspector and, subject to a number of minor repairs, should see a ten-year boiler certificate issued early next year subject to available funds. Since the boiler has already been re-tubed on site by our own volunteers (thanks to previous donations specifically for this purpose), the remaining outstanding work will involve replacing some rivets and stays in the boiler, in order to complete the scheme of work. The boiler will be transported down to experts in Lincoln for this work to be carried out, and a fire lit in the boiler for the first time in over 50 years. On arrival back at Shed47, the process of reassembling the loco will then take place by our team of volunteers. All of the money raised will be allocated and spent on this in order to see a 10-year ‘back in steam’ certificate issued.

In the meantime, the frames and the motion are being serviced and repainted in preparation for final reassembly. The locomotive will be painted in NCB ‘Leaf Green’ and will serve alongside our new narrow gauge steam locomotive. ‘Big Dave’ – do come and visit !

Help Shed47 bring steam back to Dunfermline & West Fife!