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Great Western Railway Locomotive 5542
Serving the British travelling public since 1927
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Return for news about 5542 which returned to service on the West Somerset Railway on 4th October 2002 following a 23 year restoration undertaken and financed by supporters of the West Somerset Railway.
From October 2002 the locomotive completed 3 very successful years of work on the branch covering no less than 30,000 miles in 450 days of use. The locomotive proved very popular with crews and public alike and also ecomomical and reliable. Towards the end of 2005 the thickness of the driving wheel tyres fell below the accepted minimum for use on the WSR so the directors agreed to suspend our agreement and seek a period of operation on less demanding duties on other preserved railways, prior to having new tyres fitted.
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The Directors of the Locomotive 5542 Ltd are pleased to have been able to reach agreement for the loco to spend a period on the W.S.R. during 2008 and hope it will go some way to redressing its absence during the last 2 years. With the 10 year overhaul on the boiler now little more than 3 years away the loco must see use on every possible occasion before April 2011 to enable us to recoup the sum invested
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13/03/08 Back in Service 5542 renews its aquaintance with Auto 178 sporting hybrid GWR/BR identity!
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AUTOTRAILER 169 The opportunity to restore Great Western Railway Autotrailer No 169 to accompany our locomotive has proven too tempting an opportunity to miss, so we now invite you to become a 'Founder Member' of the restoration project. Whilst we are aware that the project to rebuild 169 is no small task, we are confident that we can source the nessecary skills and funds to ensure a successful outcome. We are now keen to hear from anyone who wishes to assist the project. All financial support is most welcome and a Partnership program is offered at 3 levels of contribution, Gold £500, Silver £250, Bronze £125, outright or by Standing Order from just £4 per month. Other donations of funds or articles for resale are welcome. All donations of £20 or more will receive a 'Certificate of Thanks' and become a 'Friend of 169' For further details of this exciting project please E-Mail for more information.We have already located a number of missing parts and had an excellent response to the idea.
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Update 03/06/2008
The sight of our loco performing its duties on a truly 'Local' service attatched to not one but two lovingly restored GWR Autotrailers was indeed a scene from the 1930s railway history books recreated to perfection. A rather wet first wekend was followed by a much better weekend weather wise with visitor numbers up and visitors to 'our' Tea Bar helping to swell the restoration funds for our own autotrailer 169. Who knows perhaps 3 (or even 4) coach Autos before too long. Anyway its now back to the routine work for a few weeks until our next planned visit, to the SVR Gala in mid September.
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Update 08/05/2008
This coming weekend sees 5542 enter service at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway for the first time this year following the winter overhaul work and the sucessful WSR visit. Our loco is rostered to work three round trips on the public timetable on Saturday and Sunday. The up coming Cotswold festival of steam has 5542 playing its auto train role during the 5 day (May24/25/26/31 June 1) event which this year has some 'full line' auto working scheduled and 5542 making its debut with 2 operational Autos 163&178 attached(sadly not in a 'sandwich'). Auto train mileage is expected to be in the region of more than 70 on each day. Worth a visit for that alone, not to mention all the other big name locos on duty also, Lord Nelson,Wadebridge, Black Prince,Foremarke Hall,along with 5619, all of course subject to availability. Click here for more details
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Links to associated Pages and Sites
Archive News Pages One Two Three
Full Listing Coming soon
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15/04/2008
Saturday 12th April saw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||