Visiting Locomotive for W&L Gala 2010

W&L Press Release (from Andrew Charman via W&L egroup)

"Chevallier" heads for Llanfair Gala

FOR the first time in over a decade the Welshpool & Llanfair Light
Railway (W&LLR) is to welcome a visiting steam locomotive to its
annual September Steam Gala.

The locomotive, Manning Wardle 0-6-2T "Chevallier", has several
connections with the Mid-Wales line, and indeed has visited before, in
1991.

"Chevallier" was built in 1915 for the Chattenden & Upnor Railway,
a line ran by the Admiralty in Kent. Years later in 1963 the fledgling
preservationists of the W&LLR obtained their first passenger rolling
stock from the Chattenden line, together with diesel locomotive
"Chattenden" which still runs at Llanfair today.

In 1950 "Chevallier" was sold on from Chattenden to Bowaters Paper
Mills in Sittingbourne, also in Kent. This system would later form the
basis of the preserved Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, to which
the W&LLR later sold on the ex-Chattenden rolling stock.

By this time however, "Chevallier" had moved again, to the railway
built to run through the wildlife enclosures at Whipsnade Zoo and
Safari Park in Bedfordshire. Here the loco remained until 2006, when
it was purchased from Sir William (Bill) McAlpine and moved to the
Forest of Dean. In 2009 a heavy general overhaul began at the Flour
Mill workshop, which is scheduled for completion in August 2010.

"We need to make sure it works once we've finished," commented
Bill Parker of the Flour Mill, "and what better place than the
Welshpool & Llanfair? A little bit of everything, and a lot of
beautiful countryside, steep gradients and passengers, not to mention
enthusiastic volunteers".

"We are delighted to play host to this historic and immaculately
restored locomotive and thank Bill for making it available to us,"
commented W&LLR General Manager, Terry Turner. "It will haul its
share of Gala trains and is bound to be a star attraction in GWR green
with lots of brass and copper on display" he added.

The W&LLR Annual Steam Gala will run from 3rd to 5th September and
feature a number of attractions in addition to "Chevallier". The
last locomotive to visit the W&LLR Gala was Henschel 0-6-0 "Siam"
from the Bredgar & Wormshill Railway in Kent, way back in 1995.

ENDS

 

Brilliant, about time they got a visiting engine again! Let's hope it definitely goes ahead and the loco is finished in time.

 

Is it Chevalier the loco that may be exported? Possibly the last chance to see it in the UK if it is!