Charity, Culture, History, Swanage | Posted on April 18th, 2024 | return to news
Second unique Victorian locomotive to be back on track in Swanage
Dedicated Swanage Railway volunteers are embarking on their next ambitious challenge to overhaul another Victorian locomotive.
Swanage Railway Trust’s 563 Locomotive Group is to overhaul the 1899-built London and South Western Railway T9 class steam locomotive No 30120. This locomotive was attacked by a German fighter near Wool, west of Wareham, during the Second World War.
The enterprising group returned the 1893-built London and South Western Railway T3 class steam locomotive No 563 to working order in October 2023, after a six-year project costing £650,000. It was almost completely funded by donations from railway enthusiasts and the public.
On loan from the National Railway Museum’s extensive National Collection, T9 No 30120 arrived on the Swanage Railway from the Bodmin and Wenford heritage railway in Cornwall in 2017. However, it has not steamed in the Isle of Purbeck since 2020 when it failed its boiler examination.
Built at the Nine Elms railway works in London, T9 No 30120 spent its career after the Second World War hauling trains in Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and Surrey before being withdrawn by British Railways at Eastleigh in Hampshire in October 1961.
The T9 class steam locomotives operated on the 10-mile Wareham to Swanage branch line from the 1920s through to the early 1960s and were nicknamed ‘greyhounds’ for their turn of speed on the main line. They were first on passenger trains from London and then later on freight trains to Corfe Castle and Swanage.
Chairman of 563 Locomotive Group and volunteer driver at Swanage Railway, Nathan Au, said: “It is exciting to be embarking on our second ambitious challenge because the overhaul of the T9 is the natural follow-on project to the T3 in providing the Swanage Railway with another affordable locomotive with an impeccable Southern pedigree.
“We are delighted to be able to support the National Railway Museum in its mission to ensure that selected steam locomotives from its National Collection are available for the public to enjoy in steam and hauling passenger trains.”
The National Railway Museum’s railway partnerships manager, Paddy McNulty, said: “Following the success of the T3 restoration, we are pleased to be working with the Swanage Railway Trust on its plans for the T9.
“We look forward to seeing progress towards the successful overhaul of the T9 and enjoying the splendid sight and sound of both locomotives in steam on the Swanage Railway in the future.”
Nathan Au also said: “The project to overhaul the T9 will start with an assessment of the locomotive to confirm what work is necessary, that the restoration work is viable and that there is the necessary financial support available before a commitment is made to the full overhaul.
“The hoped for overhaul of No 30120 will be shared between the Flour Mill engineering works in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, and the Swanage Railway’s Herston engineering works in Swanage with the Flour Mill doing the boiler and tender and the Swanage Railway doing the chassis of the T9.
“The Flour Mill successfully returned the T9 to steam in 2010 so its skilled staff are already familiar with the locomotive while their involvement in No 30120 builds on the successful relationship established with the restoration of the T3,” added Nathan, who is also a director of the Swanage Railway’s train operating company.
Bill Parker, of the Flour Mill locomotive engineering works in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, said: “After finishing one LSWR locomotive, T3 No 563, last year for the Swanage Railway Trust’s 563 Locomotive Group, we are delighted to be involved with the restoration of another Victorian steam locomotive.
“Funded by the late and much-missed Swanage Railway Trust patron Alan Moore, we overhauled T9 No 30120 some fifteen years ago for the Bodmin and Wenford Railway in Cornwall so it will be interesting to see what ten years of hauling trains has done to the T9. No 30120 is ideal for the Swanage Railway.”
T9 No 30120 is due to leave the Swanage Railway by road transporter tomorrow, Friday, 19 April, for the one-day journey to the Flour Mill in the Forest of Dean.
To find out more about T9 No 30120 overhaul appeal or to make a donation, visit http://563locomotivegroup.co.uk/project120/
Please share post:
LATEST NEWS:
CHARITY OF THE YEAR
Subscribe to the online magazine news letter
