This engine was built at Horwich as part of an order for British Railways. The engine spent its working life in the North West. She was initially shedded at Darwin and was later transferred to Sutton Oak, St.Helens, on 5 March 1965 She was subsequently transferred to Springs Branch, Wigan on the closure of Sutton Oak in June 1967 but was withdrawn from capital stock in Dec 1967 and moved to the Barry scrapyard.
In mid October 1974 5 members of the Hallamshire Railway Preservation Society from Sheffield spent a working weekend at Barry with a view to purchase and to prevent further decay painted her with red lead primer. She was seen soon afterwards standing proud but alone on an empty siding. No further restoration took place, and she remained in the yard for a further 8 years.
Sadly, as space at the yard became scarce she was pushed down her siding almost to the bufferstops. As time passed she was stripped of various parts as Woodhams became a valuable source of steam locomotive spare parts.
In 1982 Phil Rollin concluded his negotiations to buy the engine for £7,500. And in January 1983 she left Woodham's for a new life in South Leverton near Retford, Nottinghamshire. She had spent 14 years and 4 months in South Wales and was the 143rd locomotive to leave the yard.
Phil placed her in his back garden and gave her a cosmetic makeover. Sadly, Phil died in the early 1990s and the future of the locomotive became a little uncertain. She was bought from Phil's daughter and moved to Morpeth.
Restoration to working order took almost 16 years and cost £750,000. It was accomplished by a volunteer-led group of enthusiastic individuals. For the first 13 years the restoration was performed in the open air with little weather protection apart from the usual tarpaulin sheets found at all the railway preservation sites around the country. Work proceeded at a steady but not all too quick pace in the early years in part due to the limited amount of funding coming in. Major investment led to the building of a Restoration Shed in 2010 and lifted moral.
On Sunday 21 July 2013 at 13:30 she returned to the rails at Holt - her first scheduled journey in 46 years. This engine is now in regular service on the North Norfolk Railway.
To locate this cache you will need to find the answer to the following questions:
What number is assigned to this engine? ABCDE
In what year was she build? 1FG7
The cache can be found at: N52 5G.(E+G)BD E001 0D. FAC
There is parking close by.