HERITAGE railway bosses have made a capital gain – and they're delighted!
A historic locomotive specially built for service in London is guesting at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway's 'autumn steam-up'.
The No 72 Fenchurch is appearing alongside the five-mile line's home fleet at the event, which runs from next Friday (October 4) until Sunday, October 6.
Fenchurch – which has been based at the Bluebell Railway in Sussex since the 1960s – was originally built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway’s 11-mile suburban South London Line, by engineer William Stroudley. Many of the stations along the route were less than a mile apart and the railway company wanted a small, powerful locomotive that could accelerate quickly between each stop.
Kieran Pilsworth, one of the steam-up organisers, says: "We’d like to thank the Bluebell Railway for making No 72 Fenchurch available to us for the event.
"We’re sure everybody’s going to love seeing what Fenchurch can do on the Worth Valley gradients and we believe it will appeal to everyone – especially the children as it’s such an attractive, 'kid-sized' locomotive!".
Next Friday, Fenchurch will also be operating a three-train charter service.
For more about the steam-up, visit kwvr.co.uk
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