Triumphant return of 80078 to passenger traffic on 7th November 1999

Photo report dated 7th November 1999 - all photographs are copyright Andrew P.M. Wright
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All photographs in this report were taken on Sunday, November 7th, 1999, by Andrew P.M. Wright.

An ex-BR main line steam locomotive transformed from a rusting hulk into a gleaming 88 tonne leviathan of steam hauled its first passenger carrying train in 34 years on Sunday, November 7th, when it triumphantly steamed out of Swanage station bound for Corfe Castle and Norden.

Restored Brighton-built ex-BR Standard Class 4 Tank No. 80078 of 1954 - which spent ten years languishing in a Welsh scrapyard - triumphantly steamed out of Swanage station on Sunday, November 7th, 1999 - hauling its first passenger carrying train for 34 years.

Hauling the 3.10 pm train, No. 80078's first train was also a first for the Swanage Railway in another respect - for it was the first double-headed train featuring a Standard Class 4 tank and an LSWR M7 0-4-4 tank on the front to leave Swanage since the first half of 1964!

Driving No. 80078 was veteran Swanage Railway driver Ron Roberts - the railway's first - of Swanage who has been with the railway project since its beginning in the early 1970s. He was also with the first Swanage Railway working parties to rescue No. 80078 when it was rusting away in the Barry Scapyard back in 1972 and has been involved in its lengthy restoration to full working order ever since.

No. 80078's fireman on its first passenger-carrying train on Sunday, November 7th, was Annie Mitchell from Cornwall.

The 88 tonne Standard Class 4 2-6-4 tank steam locomotive No. 80078 was first brought by road transporter to the fledgling Swanage Railway by railway enthusiasts when it was a rusting wreck back in September, 1976.

Now, after a protracted £150,000 restoration across almost 20 years, Southern Locomotives Ltd's No. 80078 is shining like a new pin and back on the tracks - ready for a new working life on the six mile relaid Purbeck Line in Dorset.

In double-heading the 3.10 pm Swanage to Harman's Cross, Corfe Castle and Norden park and ride train, No. 80078 hauled its first passenger train since being withdrawn by BR in 1965.

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.

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.

But Southern Locomotives Ltd's staff and volunteers are not resting on their laurels. Work is well advanced with the restoration of 1946 Brighton-built ex-BR rebuilt West Country class Bulleid Pacific 'Eddystone' in the Swanage Railway's Herston engineering works.

Further details from Steve Kerley of Southern Locomotives Ltd on 01202 772984.