War Department "Austerity" 2-8-0, WD No. 79257 is a preserved British steam locomotive. It is the only survivor of its type. Originally built by the Vulcan Foundry in 1945, works No. 5200, it was given the WD No. 79257. During the

liberation of Europe The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf ...

, it was transferred to mainland Europe with the British Army.

Post-war service

After the war, it was sold to Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS, Dutch Railways), where it became part of the NS 4300 II Class number 4464. NS in turn sold it to Statens Järnvägar (SJ, Swedish State Railways) where it became Class G11 1931. Also sold to SJ at the same time was 4383 ex WD 78259 which became SJ 1930.

Preservation

No. 1931 was saved from being scrapped by the

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is a heritage railway line in the Worth Valley, West Yorkshire, England, which runs from Keighley to Oxenhope. It connects to the National Rail network at Keighley railway station. History Inception and ...

, who ran it in SJ condition for several years. In 1993 work began on restoring the locomotive to more or less original condition, as "

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

No. 90733", one higher than the last

BR ex-WD Austerity 2-8-0 The British Railways (BR) ex-WD Austerity 2-8-0 was a class of 733 2-8-0 steam locomotives designed for heavy freight. These locomotives of the WD Austerity 2-8-0 type had been constructed by the War Department as war locomotives 1943-1945. A ...

, 90732 ''Vulcan''. Incidentally, one engine did very briefly carry the BR number 90733 as ex-WD Stanier Class 8F No. 48773 (also preserved) was incorrectly numbered that upon its entering into BR stock in 1957, after being mistaken for an Austerity 2-8-0 type. As of July 2018, it is being stripped for an overhaul.

Gallery

Image:90733_01.JPG , Approaching Oakworth Image:90733_02.JPG , Makers' plate

References

External links

K&WVR steam locos

Preserved steam locomotives of Great Britain Vulcan Foundry locomotives 2-8-0 locomotives {{steam-loco-stub