Appeal to return Singapore to steam

ROCKS by Rail at Cottesmore has launched a new appeal to help return its flagship Hawthorn

Leslie 0-4-0ST Singapore (3865/1936) to steam.

The one-time Far Eastern Prisoner of War (FEPOW) locomotive last steamed in 2008, and the railway is now seeking to raise £40,000 to overhaul the loco. The project will include manufacturing replacement motion parts to replace those stolen from the site in late 2018.

Singapore was supplied new to the Royal Navy Dockyard in Singapore where, on February 15, 1942, the loco, together with 80,000 Allied servicemen, became a prisoner of war of the Japanese. After this the loco could often be seen working alongside parties of prisoners unloading ships in the dockyard, but after the conflict it was eventually repatriated in 1953 and finished its military service at Chatham Naval Dockyard in 1972. It came to Cottesmore in 1979. It is a registered UK war memorial to FEPOWs.

Cheques payable to Rutland Railway Museum should sent to: RBR Treasurer, FEPOW Memorial Locomotive Appeal, 4 Main Street, Stanford on Soar, Loughborough LE12 5PY.