Swanage Railway News Gallery Page 293
A VETERAN STEAM LOCOMOTIVE HAULS ITS FIRST PASSENGER TRAIN IN 43 YEARS AFTER
TAKING 26 YEARS TO RESTORE (Saturday 11th February, 2006).
Press Release and Photo Report from Andrew P.M. Wright - dated 15th February 2006
Official photographer & press officer, Swanage Railway.
Photographs are copyright Andrew P.M. Wright.
To view a larger version of any photograph on this page,
just click on the thumbnail photograph and subsequently use the
Back button on your browser to return to this page.
Page 1 of 5
Andrew P.M. Wright has supplied over 100 photos featuring Great Western Railway 0-6-2
Tank No. 6695's historic first passenger carrying journey on the Swanage Railway on
Saturday 11th February, 2006.
We have split the photos over several pages. Please follow the links at the foot of this page for more photos.
An historic steam locomotive rescued from a Welsh scrapyard in 1979 that has taken
dedicated volunteers 26 years and £200,000 to restore to full working order has hauled
its first passenger train in 43 years.
Great Western Railway 0-6-2 Tank No. 6695 – built in Newcastle in 1928 – made the
historic trip into the history books, hauling the 9.50 am Swanage to Harman’s Cross,
Corfe Castle and Norden train, on Saturday, 11th February, 2006.
These photos show the two crews with Great Western Railway 0-6-2 Tank No. 6695.
From left are Nigel Clark of the 6695 Locomotive Group, early turn crew driver
Clive Frampton and fireman Arthur Young and
guard John Stopher.
Late turn crew - from left are Matt McManus, driver Dan Main and fireman Bill Crutcher.
The early crew were driver Clive Frampton and fireman Arthur Young
while the late crew were driver Dan Main with fireman Bill Crutcher
with fireman Matt McManus assisting with the disposal of the loco.
The guard was John Stopher. Pictured with Clive, Arthur and John is
driver Nigel Clark of the 6695 Locomotive Group who has been involved with
the loco since he was a teenager.
The ‘Taffy Tank’ as it is nick-named, because it spent some of its working life in
South Wales, took to the rails at the start of the Swanage Railway’s Day Out with
Thomas the Tank Engine event which runs daily until Sunday, 19th February, 2006.
No. 6695 will be hauling trains between Swanage, Harman’s Cross, Corfe Castle and
Norden park and ride throughout this week and over the weekend – as well as during
weekends after that.
The volunteer crew of No. 6695 for its first passenger train since 1962 was made up
of driver Clive Frampton from Ferndown, fireman Arthur Young from Bridgwater and
guard John Stopher from Barton-on-Sea near New Milton.
Great Western Railway 0-6-2 wheel arrangement ‘Taffy’ Tank No. 6695 is owned by
the volunteer-run No. 6695 Locomotive Group and the locomotive’s restoration has
been a labour of love since it was rescued from the Barry scrapyard in South Wales
and brought to the fledgling Swanage Railway in August, 1979.
No. 6695 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 trains down to Weymouth.
The tank locomotive ran more than 620,000 miles – the equivalent of 25 times round
the world or all the way to the moon and back – for the GWR and BR before being
withdrawn for scrap in the summer of 1964.
It had hauled its last freight train earlier that year but No. 6695 hauled its
final passenger train two years earlier in November, 1962 – the year of the
Cuban missile crisis that shocked the world – when No. 6695 ran for the last
time between Neath and Treherbert in the Rhonda Valley.
Nigel Clark of the No. 6695 Locomotive Group, who lives in Poole and works for
Network Rail at Salisbury, said: “It is great to see the locomotive haul its
first passenger train since 1962 – it was quite a moment. When I first No.
6695 rusting away at the Barry scrapyard in south Wales I was in my teens.
“When we brought her to Swanage in 1979, I never thought she would take this
long to restore but everyone has done a brilliant job. It has taken a lot of
hard work and determination to complete because we had to battle against the
problems of working in the outdoors, raising money, restoring parts or having
them made from new.”
No. 6695 Locomotive Group chairman, Brian House, of Ferndown, said: “Everyone
who has worked on the locomotive – and who have raised or donated money – should
be very proud of themselves. But we still need £20,000 to pay for the restoration
and would appreciate any donations towards what is a magnificent steam locomotive.”
To visit the other pages of photos featuring Great Western Railway 0-6-2 Tank No. 6695's historic
first passenger carrying journey on the Swanage Railway, please click on the navigation links below.
- To visit the second page of photos please click here.
- To visit the third page of photos please click here.
- To visit the fourth page of photos please click here.
- To visit the fifth page of photos please click here.
All photographs are copyright Andrew P.M. Wright.
Last Updated 15th Feb 2006 by Keith Morgan.
© Swanage Railway
| 
