Original ‘WC’ nO. 34007

It took a quarter of a century to restore the oldest preserved ‘Light Pacific’, No. 34007 Wadebridge, at two preserved railways in the South West, and it is appropriate that the ‘Spam Can’ returned to steam on a line that once served its namesake town. The Bulleid 4‑6‑2 had the sad duty of towing ‘U’ class No. 31799, ‘West Country’ No. 34031 Torrington, ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35024 East Asiatic Company and Standard ‘4MT’ No. 80087 to Cashmore’s of Newport for scrapping in April 1965. Wadebridge followed them in October that year, albeit to Barry. It would be the tenth ‘Light Pacific’ to leave the scrapyard, moving initially to the Plym Valley Railway for restoration in 1981 before setting down roots at the Bodmin & Wenford Railway in 1992, where it returned to traffic in October 2006. However, Wadebridge has been a Watercress Line resident for the last nine years and its ticket expired in March last year. It is currently stored at Ropley awaiting overhaul, which will begin once ‘Merchant Navy’ No. 35005 Canadian Pacific and No. 850 Lord Nelson have been overhauled. Meanwhile, work continues on Wadebridge’s new tender and, although the cost of No. 34007’s overhaul has not been estimated, it is expected to be relatively low owing to the significant level of work carried out during its initial restoration.