9466 – Preserved British Steam Locomotives

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9466 was built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn Ltd and was towed from Darlington to Swindon in 1952. It was initially allocated to Gloucester depot in February 1952 but in March of that year it moved to Worcester where it was used on pilot work as well as shunting and on local passenger and freight duties. It stayed at Worcester for nine years after which it was overhauled at Wolverhampton Stafford Road and then transferred to Bristol (St Phillips Marsh) in 1961.

Towards the end of its working life 9466 also saw service at Tondu depot from June 1962 and Radyr shed a year later. Duties at these sheds were similar and comprised trip work and yard shunting. These activities were taken over by diesel motive power in the form of 350hp shunters and class 37s. 9466 was withdrawn for scrap in June 1964 after a working life of less than 12 years and sold to Woodham Brothers. It spent 11 years at Woodham Brothers before moving to Quainton in September 1975. It was bought in 1977 by Dennis Howells who still owns the locomotive.

The original restoration took 8 years to achieve. Since then it has visited many heritage railways and has worked special steam trains for London Underground.

9466 had its first 7 year overhaul at London Transport’s Ruislip Depot in late 1993/early 1994. Its second 7 year overhaul was completed at London Underground Neasden Depot in 2004, after which 9466 returned to Quainton.

During 2006 it was fitted with Train Protection and Warning System and On Train Monitoring and Recording systems which are mandatory for mainline working. Following recertification at Tyseley for mainline running 9466 has hauled a number of trains on the main line during 2006 – 2009.

9466 has continued to visit heritage railways and work on the London Underground.

The boiler certificate expired in October 2013 but a one year extension was approved after which 9466 was taken out of service for overhaul.

By May 2014 the tanks and boiler lagging etc had been removed. The boiler has had its firebox foundation rivets renewed, and the internal steam pipe repaired. The motion has been reassembled. The out of frames steam test was completed successfully in December 2015, with the boiler replaced in the frames later that month. In April 2016 the locomotive completed its steam trials at Quainton.

9466 was main line certified and based at Tyseley.

The private owner of the locomotive died in 2018 and his family subsequently decided to put it up for sale as they believed that they did not have the necessary skills and knowledge to keep the engine running.

In June 2019 Jonathan Jones Pratt, the Chairman of the West Somerset Railway PLC, has announced that he had purchased the locomotive. The new owner expressed a desire to run the locomotive on the West Somerset Railway but this cannot be done until the track there is improved to allow the Red Route status to be reinstated which is required before heavier axle load locomotives can run on the whole line. Initially the locomotive will run on the South Devon Railway.

By October 2019 the locomotive had been moved to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway where it will remain for the 2020 season.

The stay at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway was cut short following the Corvid-19 pandemic which closed the railway along with all other heritage lines. In July 2020 it was announced that the locomotive would be moving to the Ecclesborourne Valley Railway where it will be used towards the end of the 2020 season and throughout the 2021 season.

The locomotive arrived at the Ecclesborourne Valley Railway at the end of September 2020.

In November 2020 the WyvernRail PLC, who operate the Ecclesborourne Valley Railway (EVR), announced that they had reached agreement with JJPHoldings South West Ltd over the hire of 9466. Under the agreement the locomotive will stay on the EVR until the boiler ticket expires in 2025.

It had been planned that 9466 would spend time at the Kent & East Sussex Railway hauling Santa specials at the end of 2020 but this was cancelled by the the imposition of Corvid-19 Tier 3 restrictions in Kent. As a result the locomotive was going to Tyseley for maintenance work instead.

In April 2021 the locomotive moved to the Ecclesborourne Valley Railway.

In March 2022 it was disclosed that the locomotive would be returning to the West Somerset Railway where it will operate for the remaining two years of its boiler certificate.

In November 2022 the owner announced that the locomotive had passed a steam test following maintenance work. After running in on the West Somerset Railway and operating there over the winter it will be available for hire during 2023 before the boiler certificate expires at the end of the year.