4247

4247 at Bodmin Parkway on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway - September 2006.jpg

This loco is in 5205 condition with outside steampipes, but a straight footplate.

4247 was built at Swindon Works in 1916 at a cost of £2,918. During its career with the GWR and, later, British Railways the locomotive was based in South Wales, but also worked out of St Blazey shed in the 1950s.

BR motive power depot allocations since 1948.

Date Arrived	Depot
January 1948	Ebbw Junction
December 1952	St Blazey
December 1957	Ebbw Junction
April 1961	Aberbeeg
July 1962	Tondu

Whilst at Ebbw Junction in 1958 it spent a number of months in store.

It was withdrawn in 1964 from Tondu shed and was sent for scrap to Barry. It was rescued from there by the 4247 Preservation Society in 1985.

The locomotive was based at the Cholsey & Wallingford and Chinnor & Princess Risborough railways in the late 1990s for restoration but never ran there.

After extensive restoration, the engine returned to steam in 2001, and since then has worked on several heritage railways. Following an agreement with the Bodmin & Wenford Railway Trust, 4247 is now based permanently at Bodmin.

In early 2017 the locomotive was out of service following the failure of a firebox side stay. It was then decided that while the boiler was off the frames any repair work which would be required at the next overhaul would be undertaken early to avoid another boiler lift in the near future.

In March 2018 the locomotive was able to make test runs on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway.

In December 2018 the Bodmin & Wenford Railway reported that the locomotive had been taken out of service for repairs which are expected to take a few months.

In January 2022 moved to the East Somerset Railway for a contract overhaul following an agreement between the owners of the locomotive and the Dartmouth Steam Railway. After the overhaul the locomotive will be loaned to the Dartmouth Steam Railway for a 20 year period.

It was also reported in January 2022 that the decision to no longer base the locomotive on the Bodmin & Wenford Railway as it could no longer operate over one of the bridges on the line after an examination of the structure of the engine.