MUSICAL ENGINES: 2818 LANDS IN SWINDON
Churchward 2‑8‑0 welcomed back to the place of its birth after gifting by the NRM.
Over a year after it was disposed of by the National Railway Museum, ‘28XX’ No. 2818 finally moved to its new home of STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon.
The rare inside-steam pipe Churchward 2-8-0 was transferred from its long-time home of Locomotion, Shildon, to Swindon on August 21, where it took the place of ‘Manor’ No. 7821 Ditcheat Manor inside STEAM. The Collett 4-6-0 (owned by the West Somerset Railway Association) in turn moved into the spot inside the McArthurGlen designer outlet shopping centre vacated by classmate No. 7819 Hinton Manor – which returned to the Severn Valley Railway (see story below) – . The NRM announced its intention to transfer ownership of No. 2818 to STEAM on August 11 last year, but did not confirm the date the locomotive would move to its new home until almost a year to the day later, on August 10. STEAM Curator Frances
Yeo said: “We’ve been working closely with the National Railway Museum to secure the transfer of the locomotive, which will soon be standing beside STEAM’s station platform. “Staff and volunteers at STEAM are very excited to be welcoming No. 2818 to Swindon. This is the first complete locomotive to be owned by STEAM and it comes to the museum in very good condition. The return of No. 2818 to the site where it was built is a momentous occasion in Swindon’s history, and we look forward to having the locomotive on display here at STEAM.”
Andrew McLean, Assistant Director and Head Curator at the National Railway Museum, said: “The transfer of Churchward’s No. 2818 to STEAM ensures the locomotive’s positive long-term future in its Swindon birthplace. “It is fitting that a member of one of the most successful of all Great Western Railway locomotive classes will become a star exhibit in a museum that is dedicated to telling the story of both the GWR and Swindon’s important place in Britain’s railway history.”