The LSWR T3 class is a class of express passenger 4-4-0 steam locomotives designed for the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

by William Adams. Twenty were constructed between 1892–1893. The class were numbered 557–576, and had been intended as a variant of the X2 class with slightly smaller driving wheels ( versus ). In reality, the coupled wheelbase was lengthened by and the locomotive was fitted with a deep firebox long – the largest firebox of any of Adams' designs - with a 19¾ square foot grate area. All passed to the Southern Railway at the

grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

in 1923. Withdrawals started in 1930, and by the end of 1933 only three remained. No. 557 went in 1936, 571 in 1943, and the last, 563 was retired in August 1945 and set aside for preservation, at which point it had run 1.5 million miles. From May to October 2011 it was in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, on loan for use in a theatrical production of

The Railway Children ''The Railway Children'' is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in ''The London Magazine'' during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 fil ...

Roundhouse Park Roundhouse Park is a 17 acre (6.9 ha) park in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is in the former Railway Lands. It features the John Street Roundhouse, a preserved locomotive roundhouse which is home to the Toronto Railway Mus ...

, a role it reprised from December 2014 to January 2017 when the production was staged at King's Cross, London. On 30 March 2017, No. 563 was transferred to the Swanage Railway Trust. The locomotive has now moved permanently to the Swanage Railway with a formal handover ceremony held at Corfe Castle on Saturday 27 May. Following an individual donation, the Swanage Railway declared their intention to explore the possibility of restoring the locomotive to working order, with a public appeal for additional funds being launched in October 2017. The evaluation was positive and a full restoration programme is currently under way, with a target of returning to operation in 2023.

References

External links

LSWR T3 class SRemG

LSWR T3 No.563 Swanage Railway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lswr T03 Class T03 4-4-0 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1892 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain