BR Standard Class 4 80078 on the Swanage Railway

80078 between Norden and Corfe Castle 24th Aug 2003 - photo copyright Peter Milford

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.

Built at Brighton in February, 1954, at a cost of £17,000 for working long and heavy commuter trains between the Essex coast and London, No. 80078 was moved to North Wales in the early 1960s because of the Essex electrification.

It was eventually withdrawn by BR and sent to the Barry Scrapyard in south Wales for cutting up in 1966. But, luckily, that never happened.

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.

Transformed from a rusting hulk into a gleaming 88 tonne leviathan of steam, 80078 hauled its first passenger carrying train in 34 years on Sunday, November 7th 1999, when it triumphantly steamed out of Swanage station bound for Corfe Castle and Norden.