Blyth makes Southwold debut
STEAM RETURNED to the Southwold Railway for the first time in 93 years on April 10, following the arrival of replica Sharp, Stewart 2‑4‑0T No. 3 Blyth.
Following its first static steaming on rollers at a private site in Darlington on March 7 (SR530), the new‑build 3ft gauge locomotive was transported to its new Southwold Railway Trust home in Southwold on March 29, where it moved under its own power for the first time at a members only event on April 10, hauling replica SR goods wagons. It was the first time a steam locomotive has worked in Southwold since the original railway closed in 1929, the SRT’s Steamworks headquarters being based alongside the old trackbed close to the site of the original SR terminus.
The following day – 93 years to the day since the railway closed – Blyth was given an official dedication ceremony, featuring speeches from SRT chairman John Bennett and David Humphreys from North Bay Railway Engineering Services, which built Blyth, as well as a ceremonial dousing of the bufferbeam with an appropriate bottle of locally brewed Adnams ale. The locomotive was also reunited with a surviving worksplate from the original Blyth, which is believed to be the only surviving component from the original locomotive.
Visitors to Steamworks hoping to see Blyth in steam for themselves will have to wait for now, as the trust currently only has permission to run the locomotive for its members and not the general public. Visit www. southwoldrailway.co.uk/steamworksopen-days-2022 for details of its 2022 open days.