Spa Valley Railway

Spa Valley Railway, West Station, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5QY
Telephone: 01892 537715
Email enquiries@spavalleyrailway.co.uk

(Photo ©M. Dives)

North Downs

Works No. 7846
Running Number. 13
RSH 0-6-0T Built 1955,
Robert Stephenson & Hawthorne, England
Wheel Diameter - 3ft 8in
Cylinders - 18in x 24in
Inside stephenson
Tractive Effort - 27,000lbs
Weight in working order - 52.6 tons
Boiler Pressure - 180 PSI

Built in 1955 and delivered new to Hams Hall Power Station, Birmingham, part of the Central Electricity Generating Board. With the number 13, it was a regular performer until 1972, when it was placed into store at Ryehouse, Essex. Sold to the Railway Vehicle Preservation Society in 1972, and moved to Chapel and Wakes, Colne in Essex but still not worked on. Purchased by the North Downs Steam Railway in 1983, it was moved to Higham in Kent. Very little work was carried out until transfer to Chatham Naval Dockyard, where the boiler and wheels were removed. Moved to the Dartford site for completion of the restoration, it was named 'North Downs'. Moved once again as part of the NDSR's merger to Tunbridge Wells West in 1996, it became the first steam engine to work on the Spa Valley Railway, operating the first passenger trains. Withdrawn from service in 1997 needing firebox repairs. A spare boiler has been purchased to speed up the restoration.

Livery - Likely to be repainted in original CEGB green.

Current Status - Undergoing Overhaul

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