Lambton tank moves to the heart of GWR territory in Didcot summer visit
LAMBTON, Hetton & Joicey Colliery Railway 0-6-2T No. 29 has moved from its home shed at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to Didcot Railway Centre for the summer season.
It is the first time that the powerful 1904-built veteran has visited Didcot. It will be a regular performer on the centre’s demonstration lines in July and August.
It will work alongside fellow centenarian Avonside 0-4-0ST No. 1340 Trojan (Works No. 1386 of 1897), which returned to steam in May following a £200,000 overhaul, and new Saint 4-6-0 No. 2999 Lady of Legend.
No. 29 was built to operate heavy coal trains on the Lambton Colliery Railway in County Durham, which, after mergers, became the LH&JC, with a network of more than 70 miles linking the area’s mines with the Port of Sunderland. In common with other locomotives on the LH&JC system, No 29 has a distinctive rounded cab – necessary to ensure the engines could work through the narrow bore of the tunnel to Lambton Drops – the company’s coal staithes at the port.
Didcot’s head of visitor experience and marketing, Graham Hukins, said: “We are delighted to welcome No. 29 for the summer and thank our colleagues at the NYMR for allowing her to visit. The prospect of having two locomotives over 100 years old working side by side is very exciting indeed.”
The centre is open at weekends and Wednesdays. Coronavirus restrictions are still in place, so tickets are limited and must be booked in advance at didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk. Steam trains will be running on the centre’s demonstration line offering unlimited rides aboard vintage carriages, with each group allocated an individual compartment.
➜ The Great Western Society at 60: a special anniversary feature on pages 74-79.