Full steam ahead!
Restored loco at heritage line – 60 years after leaving Potteries
A NEW steam engine has been delivered to the Churnet Valley Railway (CVR) – 60 years after it left Stoke-on-trent.
The locomotive, named Braveheart, was based at Stoke between September 1963 and 1964, with CVR staff saying it ‘no doubt’ worked the line at that time.
The ex-british Railways Standard Class 4 Locomotive No. 75014 was sent to Woodhams Scrapyard in Barry, South Wales, in October 1967. Hundreds of locomotives wound up at the scrapyard, where the engine was left exposed to the elements and became a rusted hulk.
It was bought as a wreck in 1981, said CVR, as the 121st of 213 engines to leave the scrapyard, and restored over the next 13 years, returning to steam in 1994.
The loco was named Braveheart in 2000 after the Oscar-winning film, and has spent recent years on the Dartmouth Steam Railway.
Announcing the new engine, Churnet Valley Railway said: “The 75xxx class is no stranger to the Churnet Valley Line, 75035 was based at Stoke Shed (5D) and worked some of the last passenger services from Leek before closure.
“75014 was also a former Stoke engine, based there between September 1963 and 1964 and no doubt worked the Churnet Valley line. Braveheart will be running on scheduled passenger services in February, March and April and will star in our May steam gala.”
The event will also include the Pendennis Castle, inset above, a huge 80-tonne locomotive that celebrates its 100th birthday this year. The ex-great Western Railway Castle Class No. 4079 is ‘legendary,’ according to CVR. It will run the line in May on loan from Didcot
Railway Centre. In 1977, after 53 years as an express service on British lines, the locomotive was bought by the Australian Hamersley Iron Company. It traversed the rugged Chichester Ranges, sharing the tracks with the Flying Scotsman locomotive, after the pair were exhibited jointly at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition,
It was brought back to Britain by the Didcot Railway Centre in 2000, restored over 22 years, and finally made railworthy in April 2022.