New owner for first loco to run on L&BR post-closure

RUSTON 22/28hp RH179880/1936 has been stripped, with the chassis to be shot blasted as the first stage of full restoration following its purchase by a group of Exmoor Associates’ shareholders and relocation in July to a workshop in Norfolk.

For many years the Ruston, originally supplied to Thorpe Bay Brickworks in Essex, has been owned by Bill Pryor and located on a length of track alongside the one-time platform at his home in the old Lynton & Barnstaple Railway’s (L&BR) Lynton station. Its use on this short line at Lynton station meant it was the first locomotive to run on part of the old L&BR trackbed since its 1935 closure. Subsequent outside storage led to significant deterioration in its condition.