5539 was built at Swindon in 1928 and allocated to Cheltenham in July of that year although was Bristol Bath Road engine in 1947 and withdrawn from the Cornish shed at St Blazey in April 1962.
BR motive power depot allocations since 1948.
Date Arrived | Depot |
January 1948 | Bristol Bath road |
April 1948 | Yatton |
May 1948 | Bristol Bath Road |
June 1948 | Bath Spa |
July 1948 | Bristol Bath Road |
June 1953 | Newon Abbott |
April 1955 | Pontypool Road |
October 1956 | Aberbeeg |
February 1958 | St Blazey |
5539 was one of the Barry Ten which was a collection of locomotives which remained unsold when Dai Woodham retired in 1990. The locomotives were taken on by the Vale of Glamorgan Council who continued to store them in scrapyard condition for a further twenty years before they were sold.
It arrived at Llangollen in 2006 where restoration work commenced but because of work on other locomotives it has not been given a high priority. It is planned that when completed it will be fitted for auto-train working.
The locomotive is now back at Barry where the restoration work is continuing.
By late in 2018 it was hoped that there would be a completed rolling chassis by the end of 2019. The locomotive is being worked on five days a week in the Barry Tourist Railway workshops. The boiler was still at Llangollen where it was being overhauled.
By September 2020 the restoration was still continuing at the workshops of the Barry Tourist Railway where the frames had been re-wheeled and was largely a complete rolling chassis.
Home Base | Current Status | Owner |
Barry Tourist Railway | Under restoration | Hugh Shipton |


