1420

1420 was built at Swindon in November 1933 – Withdrawn November 1964

4820 was completed at Swindon in November 1933 at a cost of £2285 for the engine and boiler, plus a further £70 for the automatic train control and auto-gear (push and pull equipment) with which it was fitted. The life of 1420 was spent in Wales, having been allocated to Pontrilas and Pontypool Road throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Renumbered from 4820 to 1420 in November 1946 at Cathays Shed, 1420 found itself at Fairford in 1953, Oxford in 1956 and Exeter in 1959, after a spending a nearly a year at Southall. After a time at Hereford shed, where 1420 worked the Leominster to Kington branch, it was finally withdrawn from Gloucester shed having travelled over 600,000 miles in October 1964 and entered preservation, arriving at Buckfastleigh in 1965.

1420 was given a heavy overhaul at Buckfastleigh in 1972 which enabled it to enter traffic in the following year.

The locomotive was taken out of service and placed in store at the start of 2006 season owing to a leaking foundation ring. By this time it had run for eight years since last being returned to traffic and had clocked up 29,000 miles on the seven miles from Buckfastleigh to Totnes line and some other heritage railways..

In 2017 had the boiler lifted in order to undertake its overhaul.

It was hoped that the locomotive would return to steam on the South Devon Railway in 2019 but by the end of 2017 there was still much to do. By September 2020 it looked as if it would not return to traffic until 2021.

Two parts of the boiler barrel were rolled in 2020.