ON JULY 12, as this magazine was going to press, London & South Western Railway ‘T3’ No. 563 moved under its own power for the first time in 75 years.
The 1893-built Adams-designed 4 ‐ 4‐0 last steamed in June 1948, when it appeared at an exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of London’s Waterloo station, alongside now-preserved ‘Terrier’ No. 82 Boxhill and ‘West Country’ No. 34017 Ilfracombe. No. 563’s first steaming – moving up and down a short piece of track minus its tender – took place at the Flour Mill workshops near Bream in the Forest of Dean, where the outside-cylinder locomotive has been based since November 2017. It comes six years after the ‘T3’ was donated from the National Railway Museum in March 2017 to the Swanage Railway Trust, which has masterminded and funded its return to steam.
Restoring No. 563 to working order required a new copper inner firebox, to replace its patched-up original. Flour Mill boss Bill Parker said: “Putting in a completely new copper firebox in any locomotive is a massive achievement.” In addition to the new firebox, the ‘T3’ has received new side plates on the outer firebox, a new front tubeplate and angle ring. Flour Mill works foreman Geoff Phelps commented: “Most of it was boiler work; the bottom end was in reasonable condition as it had been done up at Eastleigh [in 1959-61] s
