£60,000 appeal to finish baldwin

The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway has launched a £60,000 appeal to finish the restoration of the Imperial War Museum’s Baldwin 4-6-0T No. 794 in the guise of No. 590. No. 794 was imported to the UK, along with No. 778, in 1985. Some work was done on the frames and motion while under IWM custody, but priorities changed and work stopped. In 2003, the WHHR planned to restore the locomotive in the guise of No. 590, which ran on the WHR from 1923 and was scrapped in 1941. A new boiler was obtained from Israel Newton and the engine was transferred to Alan Keef Ltd in July 2009, where some work was carried out, before the locomotive was moved to the Vale of Rheidol Railway on January 12. The £160,000 project fund includes a gift of £150,000, but the WHHR estimates that another £60,000 is needed in order to complete the restoration. For more details, visit www.whr.co.uk/appeals/ baldwin-rebuild