No. 53809 (S&DJR 89/LMS 9679/LMS 13809) is one of 11 Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR) 7F 2-8-0 steam locomotives. They were built and designed for hauling heavy coal and goods trains, but were also occasionally used for summer Saturday passenger trains.
Operational history[]
Starting out as S&DJR No. 89, it was is one of five locomotives that were in the second batch of 7Fs which were built at the Darlington Works of Robert Stephenson & Co in 1925. It mainly worked the local goods trains between Bath and Evercreech Junction, which involved a stiff climb over the Mendip Hills in both directions, although in the post-war period it was also used to haul some of the many Summer Saturday holiday trains to and from the North, working between Bath and Bournemouth.
On November 20, 1929, No. 89 was taking a freight train north towards Bath. Travelling through Combe Down Tunnel at slow speed (due to the weight of the train, and the intended stop at Midford) the locomotive crew were overcome by smoke, resulting in the train running away down the hill and crashing in the goods yard outside Bath Green Park. The driver, Henry Jennings, and two shunters in the yard, were all killed in the accident.
In 1930 S&DJR locomotives were taken into the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) fleet so it became number 9679, but this was later changed to 13809 in 1932. Upon nationalisation of the railways in 1948, it was renumbered once again and became British Railways (BR) 53809.
It was withdrawn from service in 1964 and was sold for scrap to Woodham Brothers scrapyard at Barry.
Preservation[]
No. 53809 was purchased and moved from the scrapyard in 1975 to Kirk Smeaton near Doncaster in December 1975 where the locomotive was restored.
In March 1980 the locomotive was moved to the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley and operated there for a number of years. During this time, it visited the Severn Valley Railway in 1987, and the East Lancashire Railway in 1993 alongside working at Butterley, and even worked on the mainline for a period.
It was overhauled in January 2006 and returned to service in February at Butterley for 5 years before it was withdrawn from service early in 2011, requiring boiler repairs. During the five years it ran, it made first time visits to the Nene Valley Railway and the Bluebell Railway in 2008, as well as several stays at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway during 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010.
No. 53809 returned to service on the West Somerset Railway in April 2017.
The locomotive moved to the North Norfolk Railway (NNR) in January 2018 on a long term operational contract made as part of an agreement between the owners of the locomotive and the NNR. The deal is expected to cover the engine's next overhaul which will be due sometime in 2026.
Trivia[]
- No. 53809 is one of only two surviving examples of the S&DJR 7F 2-8-0s left in preservation.
- No. 53809/89 and No. 53808/88 (the other survivor of the class) met for the first time in preservation at the West Somerset Railway during 2006, 40 years after the Somerset & Dorset Railway closed.
Gallery[]
.jpg "53809 Midland Railway Centre (2).jpg (416 KB)")
