THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

Had it not been for the strike of a hammer, unique London & North Western Railway 2-2-2 No. 3020 Cornwall might have joined the illustrious list of NRM ‘one hit wonders’.

In August 1979, the ‘Single’ was loaned by what was then the Department for Education and Science to the Severn Valley Railway for restoration, with a view to returning it to working order for the Rainhill cavalcade the following year. Preparations were going well, and had progressed as far as passing visual and hydraulic examinations, until BR’s boiler inspector climbed into the boiler to check the barrel’s thickness, and promptly put his testing hammer right through the front ring of the barrel, leaving a finger-sized hole.

Suffice to say, Cornwall was not steamed and after the cost of repairs were deemed too expensive, it returned to the NRM in 1982.