Cockney Rebel propels brake van No. 49015 past Ruston & Hornsby No. DS1174 River Yeo at the Yeovil Railway Centre (YRC) on August 24. The Fowler was delivered new to G&J Weir Ltd, pump manufacturers at Coatbridge. It moved to Castrol Ltd in 1953 and used at Stanlow, Cheshire until gifted by successors Burmah Oil to the Llangollen Railway in 1980. It passed through various preservation owners until acquired by Ron Weston for the YRC, where it was restored. The name was bestowed in 2007 to mark the owner’s 60th birthday.
PETER NICHOLSON
THE Yeovil Railway Centre at Yeovil Junction station ran a number of diesel days on Tuesdays in July and August (RM June p96), giving brake van rides the short distance from the station to Wilderness Halt.
There are three operational industrial four-wheel diesel shunters at the centre: No. 44 Cockney Rebel (Fowler 4000007 of 1947 – the seventh example built of the 60hp Type 400), Sam (Fowler 22900 of 1941), and No. DS1174 River Yeo, a 48DS type Ruston & Hornsby (458959 of 1961).
The brake van in use was No. 49015, an ex-War Department vehicle built in 1942 to a Southern Railway design. It was purchased from RAF Chilmark in 1995.