75079

75079 was built at Swindon in January 1956 and as it was one of the batch of locomotives built for use on the Southern Region it was fitted with a BR1B tender which had a capacity of 4,725 gallons. This was because there were no water troughs on the Southern Region.

It was equipped with a double chimney in November 1961 whilst being overhauled at Eastleigh.

Motive power depot allocations.

Date Arrived	Depot
January 1956	Exmouth Junction
June 1956	Bastingstoke
March 1963	Eastleigh

In February 1956 the locomotive was recorded as the first member of the class to work from St Denys to Fareham via Netley whilst hauling a train from Cardiff to Portsmouth.

From later in 1956 it became a regular performer on the trains from Basingstoke to Waterloo.

It was withdrawn from service with BR in November 1966 and sold to Woodham Brothers for scrap. It arrived at the Barry scrapyard in April 1967 and stayed there for 15 years until it left in March 1982. It thus spent a longer time in the scrapyard than running under BR ownership.

In March 1982 it was bought from Barry scrap yard with the help of Plymouth City Council and restoration started at the Plym Valley Railway.

The Plym Valley Railway has re-built a one and a half mile section of the ex-Great Western branch line from Marsh Mills to Plym Bridge near Plymouth. The line used to run from Tavistock Junction, just outside of Plymouth, to Launceston.

In 2007 75079 was purchased by the Mid-Hants Railway Preservation Society and it arrived on the Mid Hants Railway at Alresford in April 2007.

Restoration of the locomotive is now underway on the Mid Hants Railway.

At the Mid Hants Railway work has now started on the restoration of the engine and construction of a new tender for this locomotive as it didn’t come with one.

The Boiler was lifted off the frames in January 2021.

It is hoped to have the locomotive back in steam in 2024.

Home Base

Current Status

Owner

Mid Hants Railway

Under restoration

Mid-Hants Railway Preservation Society