Hunslet   Works No 2857    WD75008 Swiftsure 0-6-0ST

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 2857-swiftsure-at-bury-on-the-east-lancashire-railway-e28093-september-2015.jpg

See LNER class J94 for details.

This locomotive was built in 1943 by the Hunslet Engine Company for the Ministry of Defence. It then entered service as WD 75008.

The locomotive was delivered to the Longmoor Military Railway in July 1943 before going to Longtown near Carlisle later that month.

In February 1944 it was stored at the Longmoor Military Railway before going to France in December of that year.

It was allocated on hire to the SNCB Antwep Dam.

The locomotive was returned to the War Department in February 1946 and brought back to Britain at the end of that year.

It was then deployed by the Ministry of Fuel & Power at Old Silkstone Colliery at Dodworth in Yorkshire in April 1947.

In April 1965 it was repaired and fitted with a underfeed stoker by the Hunslet Engine Company before returning to Dodworth.

In July 1973 the locomotive was moved to Cadley Hill Colliery in Derbyshire  

Around 1975/76 a number of steam locomotives were moved to Cadley Hill as they were displaced by diesel power at other NCB sites. Steam was phased out at Cadley Hill in the mid 1980s and the pit closed in 1988.

Cadley Hill Colliery  was one of the last places where steam locomotives were employed. Six locomotives that worked there have been preserved.

  • Bagnall – Works Nos 3059 and 3061
  • Hunslet – Works Nos 2857, 3851 and 3889
  • Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn – Works No 7298

The locomotive started its life in preservation on the Lavender Line in Surrey in September 1986. Here it acquired the name Swiftsure.

It then moved to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway in February 1987 where it was returned to steam. It remained there until it was sold to the Strathspey Railway (SR) in March 2006. It had initial trials on the SR but at the start of the season a problem with the firebox was identified and it did not enter service but instead went into store.

In 2013 it was sold to Peak Rail where the locomotive was returned to steam.

It ran on the East Lancs Railway in 2015 before going to the Nene Valley Railway (NVR) in November of that year.  Whilst at the NVR it was fitted with air braking equipment.

In 2017 the locomotive ran on the Dean Forest Railway.

The locomotive is owned by Rail and Road Steam Services and In March 2019 was working on the Mid Norfolk Railway. 

By August 2021 the locomotive was back at the Dean Forest Railway.

The locomotive was taken out of service at the Kent & East Sussex Railway for its ten year overhaul.

2857 arriving back at Dodworth from Hunslets after rebuilding – July 1966
2857 shunting at Dodworth Colliery using the BR line as an extended headshunt – June 1968
2857 inside Dodworth Colliery shed – February 1970
Hunslet 2857 at Dodworth Colliery – 1971
Hunslet 2857 at Dodworth Colliery – 1971
2857 making its last appearance at Dodworth Colliery before it transferred to Cradley Hill Colliery – January 1976
2857 and Hunslet 3889 at NCB Cadley Hill – August 1980
2857 at Bodmin General on the Bodmin & Weford Railway – June 1992
2857 at Bodmin Parkway – June 1993
2857 Swiftsure at Bury on the East Lancashire Railway – September 2015
2857 crossing Lynch Bridge near Peterborough on the Nene Valley Railway – December 2016
Swifsure.jpg
Swiftsure on the Mid-Norfolk Railway – September 2018
2857 on the Mid Norfolk Railway – August 2019
2857 on the Dean Forest Railway – August 2021
2857 at Bodiam on the Kent & East Sussex Railway – July 2023

Back to Hunslet Engine Company

Back to Industrial Locomotives

Back to Locomotives