18 December 2009
News about the locomotive:
The tender frame has now been riveted together by the West Somerset Railway, and was moved to the Mid-Hants on 9th November 2009. The tender tank is already at the MHR as are the three class 33 wheelsets.
The engine has been working hard the year at the Mid Hants Railway. Sadly, one of their engines had a catastrophic failure putting her out of action for months. The gap was filled by Wadebridge and boosted her earnings for this year. However, the greater the use, the more wear and tear takes its toll on the engine and more faults occur. To date Wadebridge has steamed over 20,000 miles since returning to traffic. We offer our thanks to Bob Allen and his engineers for maintaining the engine to such a high standard.
Wadebridge had only one booking this year from another heritage railway and that was for the Bluebell in early November.
John Prosser
