BR Standard Class 4 80078 - Restoration

The locomotive nears completion at Swanage in April 1999

Our BR Standard Class 4 80078 pages are broken down as follows:

  BR Standard Class 4 80078 introduction

  BR Standard Class 4 80078 in regular service

  BR Standard Class 4 80078 Restoration

  BR Standard Class 4 80078 on the Swanage Railway

  BR Standard Class 4 80078 Gallery

Please select from the above links to view more information.

No. 80078's restoration was masterminded by Southern Locomotives Ltd's engineering chief Willie Bath. The locomotive is the second ex-BR Standard Class 4 tank to be restored by Southern Locomotives Ltd, the first being No. 80104 of March, 1955, which left the Swanage Railway's Herston Works in May, 1997.

After being sent to Barry in 1966, No. 80078 rusted in the sea air until 1976 when it was purchased and moved to the Swanage Railway. It was put in storage with restoration starting a few years later but hampered by cramped conditions, a lack of equipment and no covered accommodation.

In 1991, No. 80078 was purchased from the Swanage Railway by the Project 78 Group, later incorporated into Southern Locomotives Ltd. In October, 1994, No. 80078's restoration accelerated when it moved into Herston Works, work becoming quicker from May, 1997, when sister Standard Class 4 Tank No. 80104 was fully restored and left Herston Works.