Roving saddle tank takes on vital tourist role at the KESR
A MUCH-travelled saddle tank that saw service in the Second World War on mainland Europe is set to celebrate its 80th birthday on the Kent & East Sussex Railway after arriving to help out with vital spring and summer services.
The Austerity 0-6-0ST was built by Hunslet Engine Co of Leeds (No. 2857 of 1943) and supplied in July of that year to the War Department, which numbered it 75008 and delivered it to the Longmoor Military Railway in Hampshire. It was shipped to France in December 1944, returned to the UK at the end of 1946, and was deployed at Old Silkstone Colliery in Dodworth, near Barnsley, where it worked for more than 25 years.
In summer 1973 it was on its travels again, to Cadley Hill Colliery in Derbyshire, from where it was saved for preservation in September 1986 to begin a new chapter in its life at the Lavender Line in Surrey and given the name Swiftsure.
The following year it moved to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway and thence in 2006 to a new owner, the Strathspey Railway, and placed in storage. A relocation to its former home county of Derbyshire followed seven years later after its sale to Peak Rail, which returned it to steam, and over the next few years it saw service on the East Lancashire, Nene Valley, and Dean Forest railways. By 2019 it was working at the Mid-Norfolk Railway.
In August 2021 the saddle tank was back on the Dean Forest Railway. It arrived at the Kent & East Sussex Railway on April 5 and after test running entered service on Good Friday.
KESR locomotive delivery manager David Brenchley said: “This is the first visit by Swiftsure to our railway, and it will be interesting to compare her with our Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 25 Northiam. We are extremely grateful to Steve Latham of Road & Rail Steam Services for the chance to hire her.”
General manager Shaun Dewey added: “It’s a beautiful engine, and we are excited about seeing it operating on our railway. It will be with us at least until the end of this year, and will possibly still be with us to celebrate its 80th birthday next year.”
During its time on the KESR, the saddle tank, in the livery of the Longmoor Military Railway and carrying its War Department No. 75008, will stand in for SR USA class 0-6-0T No. 300 Frank S. Ross, which was withdrawn earlier this year for an extensive overhaul of its boiler. This will include a new inner firebox and other work on the barrel and tube plate, but no date has been set for this to start.
Steam and diesel enthusiasts will recognise the name Swiftsure, for it was carried by LMS Jubilee No. 45716 and in more recent times by Class 50 D447/50047. It was a name given by the Royal Navy to 10 vessels from 1573 until its final use, on a nuclear-powered submarine that was decommissioned in 1992.
Another recent arrival at the railway is BR Mk.1 coach BCK (Brake Composite Corridor) No. 21245, built at Swindon in 1961 and purchased from Riviera Trains. KESR commercial manager André Freeman said the newcomer, which had latterly been in store at Eastleigh, would be refurbished in readiness for making its debut on December’s Santa specials.