No 6695 APPEARS IN THE SWANAGE RAILWAY’S 2005 STEAM GALA

Photo Report from Andrew P.M. Wright - dated 17th Sept 2005.
Photographs are copyright Andrew P.M. Wright unless otherwise noted
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GWR 0-6-2T No. 6695 at Swanage on Saturday 10th October 2005

An historic 1920s-built steam locomotive that was rescued from a Welsh scrapyard in 1979 has made a guest appearance in this year’s Swanage Railway steam gala. The locomotive has taken volunteers 26 years and £200,000 to restore to full working order.

The Swanage Railway's annual feast of steam - in the Swanage Railway’s 120th year - took to the rails of the relaid Purbeck Line in Dorset on Saturday and Sunday, September 10th and 11th, 2005, with an intensive train service between Swanage, Harman’s Cross, Corfe Castle and Norden park & ride.

GWR 0-6-2T No. 6695 at the coaling stage and turntable at the Swanage locomotive shed on Saturday 10th October 2005

Star of the show - in light steam and on display to the public at Swanage - was Great Western Railway 0-6-2 wheel arrangement ‘Taffy’ Tank No. 6695 owned by the volunteer-run No. 6695 Locomotive Group. The locomotive was built in Newcastle-on-Tyne by Armstrong Whitworth for the Great Western Railway in 1928 and spent its career working in the midlands and south Wales. No. 6695’s sister engines worked down to Weymouth.

Andrew P.M. Wright has supplied a selection of photos of the recently restored locomotive starring at the Swanage Railway's annual Steam Gala on Saturday and Sunday, 10th and 11th September, 2005. For further news items on both the gala and 6695, please see the news index page by clicking here.