WLA Strengthens Engineering Team!

The WLA has strengthened its engineering team by creating the new position of Assistant Engineering Co-ordinator on its Management Committee and has appointed one of its younger working members, Jack Baldwin, to the role.

Jack is well known on the Severn Valley Railway, having led the successful Hydro Shunter Project as Project Team Leader. His achievements have been recognised with several prestigious awards, including Standing Ovation Awards: Apprentice of the Year 2023, Heritage Alliance: Young Heritage Hero 2025, and Heritage Railway Association: Highly Commended Rising Star 2026.

Jack currently works for West Midlands Trains as a Reliability Technician, where he has gained extensive experience in maintenance, fault finding and repairs, particularly in electrical systems. His knowledge and expertise will further strengthen this important area of the WLA's engineering capability.

The new position has been created primarily to support Engineering Co-ordinator Darren Shelmerdine, whose role has become increasingly demanding due to the ongoing maintenance programme for D1062 and the extensive locomotive and bogie overhaul of D1013.

Ahead of the current running season, D1062 underwent a significant maintenance programme. This included a bogie lift at "A" end to rectify an issue with an equalising beam and the replacement of a complete set of bogie cardan shafts. Since then, further work has been completed to resolve two earthing faults associated with the cab heaters and the transmission solenoid valve, also at "A" end.

Progress on D1013 continues to be encouraging. The overhaul of "B" end bogie is now largely complete, while work on "A" end bogie is around halfway through. Following the successful completion of its non-destructive testing (NDT), reassembly is now underway. Although considerable work remains to complete the locomotive overhaul itself, the aim is to return D1013 to service in time to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the last Western-hauled British Rail service in 2027.

WLA Chairman Roger Smith welcomed the appointment, commenting that he was delighted with the proposal to create the new role which received unanimous support from both the Board and the Management Committee. He says:

"Jack has already demonstrated his commitment and ability through his outstanding achievements, and I am confident that his Young Heritage Hero award will prove to be just the beginning. I believe he will become one of our own Western Heroes for the future."