A whole life spent on the dock system of the Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Docks system, in Salford, now occupied by Media City, home of the BBC, was once an extensive railway operation running over 200 miles of track and a large fleet of steam locomotives. No. 31 served the dock system for over…
A tank engine for all seasons Whereas 5820 and 90733 were built for long-distance freight working, the military needed the standard design of engines to work in yards and military installations. The Austerity saddle tank design was the answer, with many lasting wells beyond the end of the war. A life of military service Although…
The engine that started it all January 1965 was a red-letter day for the emerging KWVR when the first engine to join the Railway arrived by road at Haworth. Numbered 51218 by BR, this diminutive saddle tank set the wheels in motion for what we have today. Its size precludes use on passenger trains but…
A life from the Welsh to the Yorkshire valleys via the Capital Arguably one of the most successful of the Great Western small tank designs, these versatile engines could be found at work all over the former Great Western system Withdrawn by BR in 1963, 5775 found further use with London Transport before entering preservation…
A life shunting from Bedford in the south to Workington in the north One of the first designs produced by the LMS, this useful 0-6-0 T, with origins dating back to the Midland Railway, were to be found all over the LMS system and lasted well into BR days. A hard shunter’s life to the…
An LMS engine from the GWR headquarters Prior to designing the WD (see 90733) the 8F was chosen as the standard heavy freight design for war work in WW2. 8Fs were built by all the major railway companies with no. 8431 being built by the Great Western Railway at Swindon in 1944. Although an LMS…
A Scottish survivor The tank version of the British Railways Standard Class 4 (see 75078), 80002 is another engine that escaped the cutters torch by the skin of its teeth, purchased directly from British Railways in 1969. 17 years with British Railways, 3 times longer with the KWVR Completed in 1952, 80002 worked its entire…
A wartime soldier in from the cold Built to a wartime design and, like 5820, for use in the war effort, WD 90733 is a unique engine, being the last of its kind. This locomotive was an integral part of the operating fleet until December 2018 when it was withdrawn for its 10-year overhaul to…
A locomotive with a place in preservation history After a working life of 45 years, 43924 was consigned to the scrapyard of Woodham Bros. in Barry, South Wales. It secured its place in preservation folklore in 1970, becoming the very first of over 200 locomotives to leave the scrapyard for a life in preservation when…
From Ohio to Keighley via Poland Purchased by the KWVR from Polish State Railways in 1977, 5820 was a welcome addition to the fleet when trains on the branch were getting heavier and more powerful locomotives were needed. History of the S160 Class With America’s entry to World War II, the United States of America…
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