1638

1638 large.jpg

The sole survivor 1638, was built by BR at Swindon in 1951, being allocated to Llanelli shed to work the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley line. In 1962 moved to Oswestry where it remained until January 1965 when it went to Croes Newydd at Wrexham from where it was withdrawn in August 1966 after that shed had been transferred from the Western Region to the London Midland Region of British Railways.

It was purchased privately for £1,300 and travelled to Buckfastleigh in November 1967 under its own steam and was a regular performer on the line.

When the South Devon Railway Trust took over operation of the line in 1991, 1638 was hired from its owners, the Dart Valley Railway Co, and operated the first trains under SDR auspices.

In 1992, the DVR decided to put the locomotive up for sale. The newly formed SDRT did not have the wherewithal to purchase this unique engine and it was subsequently sold to the Kent & East Sussex Railway (K&ESR) where it arrived in July 1992.

The boiler certificate expired in September 2014 after which the locomotive was overhauled at Rolvenden. It returned to traffic on the K&ESR in April 2016 having passed its steam tests in December 2015.

In February 2022 it was disclosed that the locomotive had been sent to Leaky Finders in Devon for a bottom end overhaul.

Home BaseCurrent StatusOwner
Kent & East Sussex RailwayUnder OverhaulKent & East Sussex Railway
1638 at Oswestry – Early 1960s
1638 backs onto a short goods train at Johnstown – September 1965
1638 on Croes Newydd shed – September 1965
1638 on the right on Croes Newydd shed – November 1965
1638 at Buckfastleigh – July 1968
1638 at Buckfastleigh on what was then the Dart Valley Railway – circa 1970
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1638 at Buckfastleigh on the South Devon Railway – circa 1977
1638 at Buckfastleigh on the South Devon Railway – July 1977
1638 at Buckfastleigh on the South Devon Railway – 1986
1638 at Northiam on the Kent & East Sussex Railway – 1994
1638 At Tenterden on the Kent & East Sussex Railway – August 2011
1638 on 3P20 Parcels Charter Near Carrog on the Severn Valley Railway – April 2014
1638 on 3P20 Parcels Charter Near Carrog on the Severn Valley Railway – April 2014
1638 at Highley on the Severn Valley Railway – March 2014
1638 at Highley on the Severn Valley Railway – March 2014
1638 at Highley on the Severn Valley Railway – March 2014
1638 at Tenterden on the Kent & East Sussex Railway – October 2018
1638 at Tenterden on the K&ESR – September 2019

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