Steam locomotive restoration nears completion
The Victorian engine was saved from the scrapyard
Last updated 21st Jun 2023
A Victorian steam locomotive that was saved from the scrapyard is nearly at the end of a £500,000 restoration.
Volunteers have been working for six years to restore the 1893 London and South Western Railway T3 class locomotive No. 563 which was donated to Swanage Railway in 2017.
It had travelled more than 1.5 million miles when it was withdrawn from service by the Southern Railway Company in 1945.
Bound for a scrapyard, the 81-tonne locomotive was saved from being cut up so it could be used to help celebrate the centenary of London’s Waterloo station in 1948.
It is hoped to have the engine back hauling trains at Swanage Railway for the first time in 75 years during the autumn of 2023.
It will mark both the centenary of the Southern Railway and the 185th anniversary of the formation of the London and South Western Railway.
A £40,000 appeal has been launched to help complete the restoration.
Steve Doughty, treasurer of 563 Locomotive Group, said: "The T3 is a direct link to the Swanage Railway's past – back to the early days of the London and South Western Railway in the 1880s and 1890s when holidaymakers first visited Purbeck by train."