LONGMOOR LIVERY RETURNS ON ‘AUSTERITY’
One of the most distinctive liveries ever borne by a steam locomotive has been resurrected on a working ‘Austerity’: No. WD152 Rennes has been outshopped in Longmoor Military Railway colours. Restored by Western Steam Engineering at the Dean Forest Railway, the Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns engine has steamed for the first time, ahead of its public debut at the DFR’s Wartime Forest Gala on May 13/14 and 20/21. The ‘Austerity’ will be formally re-dedicated by former LMR Colonel David Ronald at a ceremony to be held on May 13. Built by RSH for the War Department in 1944 as No. WD75189 (Works No. 7139), it was transferred to the LMR in 1946, as WD152 Rennes. The locomotive was rebuilt by Hunslet and transferred to the National Coal Board in 1961, after which it worked at Mountain Ash colliery until 1979 as No. 8.