Regaining a sense of perspective
There’s an oft-quoted phrase that people are in danger of ‘missing the bigger picture’, or, in other words, navel-gazing and focusing on the details to an excessive extent. But in some cases, it’s nice to be able to take one eye off everything and look at the smaller frame. So, when we received news of the restoration of ‘Large Prairie’ No. 4110 to steam at the East Somerset Railway, it provided a most welcome relief from everything else that’s happening in the sector at the moment.
The story of No. 4110 is – like most of the former Barry engines – a protracted one. Having arrived at the Welsh scrapyard in August 1965 two months after withdrawal, it lingered on until May 1979 when it became the 100th departure, heading to the GWR Preservation Group’s site at Southall. After various false starts, it was sent in 2020 to the East Somerset Railway (ESR) for restoration by new owners the Dartmouth Steam Railway – still essentially in ex-Barry condition. Its return to steam breaks the longest drought in Barry survivors to be revived, with the last being ‘9F’ No. 92134 at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) in 2019.
Yet in just three years, while working through the pandemic and its associated restrictions, it has been restored to working order – guaranteeing its future for at least a decade and boosting the attractions on the ESR where it will be based for the next three years. This is nothing short of miraculous and shows what can be done when there’s both a will and a way. It’s heartening to think that despite all the setbacks our railways have received over the last three years, projects such as this can still come to fruition and, on a slightly more cynical note, reduce the glut of ex-Barry engines still to be restored.
What’s also special about this though is the spirit of co-operation that this restoration has fostered, with two railways working together to achieve a positive outcome. It’s a welcome reassurance that it’s not ‘every railway for itself’ and that, despite everything else, lines can pull together harmoniously for everyone’s benefit.
Let’s hope that No. 4110 is a sign that our railways are starting to get back on their feet. Yes, there are tough times ahead, as you can read in our hard-hitting interview with Severn Valley interim MD Gus Dunster – but it’s just possible that one ‘Large Prairie’ tank could be the light at the end of the tunnel.
Get in touch
Steam Railway, H Bauer Publishing, Media House, Lynchwood, Peterborough Business Park, Peterborough, PE2 6EA
steam.railway@bauermedia.co.uk www.facebook.com/SteamRailway 01733 468000