A FAILED GRANGE! 6880 ‘Betton Grange’ taken back TO MINEHEAD for REPAIRS! | 07.07.2024

After a triumphant start on Saturdays services at the West Somerset Railway, 6880 Betton Grange was earmarked for Sunday’s 10.15 departure off Bishops Lydeard today, but it soon became clear all was not well…
Social media news broke that the Grange had sadly been pulled from services today, owing to a gasket that had failed in the smokebox and the locomotive would need to be taken back to Minehead for further investigation and repairs. With the Grange stranded at Bishops Lydeard, it hitched a lift on the ‘Quantock Belle’ today with the resident WSR Mogul 9351 from Bishops Lydeard to enable the locomotive to be examined and fixed ahead of its starring role in the forthcoming 150th anniversary event later this month. After the pair arrived, the Mogul detached and ran round ready to take the return ‘Quantock Belle’ back to Bishops Lydeard, while the Grange limped into the sheds.
We also take a look a busy scene at Minehead with the GWR Manors and Witherslack Hall all on shed, as well as the recently arrived Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST no.3581 ‘Marston, Thompson and Evershed no.3’ from the Foxfield Railway, which will be in action during the forthcoming 150th event.
I am confident that the WSR and 6880 engineering teams will be able to rectify the faults and wish them well with their repairs and look forward to better news regarding more Grange running on the West Somerset soon.
I hope you enjoy this video and thank you for watching! If you like what you've seen, please head over to Instagram for more / brunelheritage and please feel free to leave comments, ratings, and subscribe to the channel.
#gwr #greatwesternrailway #WestSomersetRailway #grangeclass #6880bettongrange #6880 #9351 #loco #britishrailways #heritagerailwaypeople #heritagerailways #heritagerailwayphotos #steamrailway #railwayphotography #railphotos #railwaysofbritain #railphotography #railwayphotos #ukrailscene #ukrailwaypics #Minehead #photography #heritage #steamtrainsofbritain #railwayheritage #manor #hall #Williton #BishopsLydeard #steamtrain #steamengine #heritage

[@michaelpowell3980]

What a line up! Two Manors, a Hall, a Grange and a big Mogul... it's beyond fantastic. Just right for this GWR line.

[@Goldenoldie49]

Excellent video content and clarity. Well done.

[@nervousnellyterencemorton]

What a fantastic collection of Locomotives. Minehead is now on my list of retirement visits.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

Great line up of all these GWR locomotives. It also show how related the Grange, Manor and Hall are, you need to look carefully to see the differences between them. As essentially the Grange is a Hall with slightly smaller wheels, and the Manor was a version of the Grange with a slightly smaller boiler and a lower axle loading. A Hall boiler is used in the recreation of Betton Grange

[@chrismoore8179]

Try building one you would find your statement very wrong, yes they share GWR std parts but they have different main frames and numerous other bits, that are unique to the locomotive.

[@ThatBIGTRAINGuy]

I'm a Fireman on the line, but I rode as a passenger for a change that day: To Minehead on Erlestoke Manor, then watched them switch to the Grange. I hope I get a go on it while we have it! By the way, I'm the one who fought back at that guy saying you make "clickbait" on Facebook 🤣. Cheers! Simon

[@brunelheritage]

thank you and appreciate the support!

[@derekparsons4]

Nice video. Saw Betton Grange at Broadway on the GWSR a few weeks ago.

[@Alan-ln3ls]

My only visit to Minehead by train was steam-hauled in 1962 (the year that Butlin's opened there, although that's not where we were staying). No suspicion of what was to come: the good Doctor and his axe were not even a bad dream then.

[@bahoonies]

My goodness, what a collection of beauties. If ever there's such a thing a steam locomotive porn, this it it. I hope Betton Grange is back in action soon. Being a new build, I suppose she's bound to have teething issues.

[@fredscratchet1355]

Shame about Betton but that mogul is lovely.

[@stevieb9699]

The Mogul started life as a 51xx 2-6-2 prairie tank. Rebuilt (I think) by the Engineers at WSR in the 1990's

[@jackchatfield5464]

well it is a new build... there is bound to be a few teething issues

[@robertwedd1111]

Any idea what the problem was?

[@PolishThatHandle346]

Sounded like it had a few issues when at the GWSR particularly with the regulator held full open

[@terrier_productions]

Issue is mentioned in the description

[@robertwedd1111]

@@terrier_productions thank you - I hadn’t spotted that 👍

[@SpondonChris.]

@@PolishThatHandle346 No big issues at all, ran like a clock all its time there, this is just a failed gasket.

[@paularowe7651]

They are all a bit too clean! Where's the grime!

[@TheNightOwl-ef7ih]

Don't be ridiculous, we don't want to be reminded of the last days of BR!

[@richardmcmillan5534]

What a waste of a good video. It’s not a lot of use if you don’t say what the “damage” is. Ok, so a comment says it was a failed gasket - where? And how did a gasket fail on a new build? Comments please. Also, I am not in the UK but I am still a steam fan. Is that a steam head as opposed to a petrol head?

[@TheNightOwl-ef7ih]

Another clown that enjoys nit-picking. What does it matter to you what failed?

[@andyash5675]

By the looks on the faces of the crew on the failed engine, I'm going to guess they probably had one of "those" failures. That's the one where it doesn't matter how hard you shovel, the pressure gauge is only going down....... and then you grind to a halt in the middle of nowhere wondering what the heck you're going to do next. Probably one of the most embarrassing things that could happen - certainly for the fireman (or woman). That would be consistent with a main steam pipe leaking in the smokebox. When that happens you don't have a chance of making steam. On the footplate it can be hard to know what's going wrong, and it feels like you're at fault. Hence the wonderful and slightly bemused looks. 😅