Railway Welcomes Back An Old Friend (AVR)

[BristleGWR]

Bristol Evening Post 10:40 - 22 September 2007

Avon Valley Railway will be rolling back the years when it invites an old steam locomotive back to the South West for a week.The Fowler 7F No 53809 is a 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotive which was the biggest to run on the former Midland Railway line and which was once a link between the Midlands and the Somerset and Dorset Railway at Bath Green Park.

Now, for the first time since 1964, the line will once again see the familiar sight of a Fowler 7F hauling trains through Bitton station.

The locomotive is being transported 300 miles by road on a low-loader from North Yorkshire Moors Railway to Bitton where it will be from October 20-28.

For five of those days the Fowler 7F will be pulling passenger trains and for two days it will be used for driver experience courses where people learn how to drive a steam engine.

Because the locomotive was based at Bath and used to travel through Bitton to Mangotsfield and Westerleigh, there is already a lot of interest from local enthusiasts, as well as those who just remember it pulling freight trains along the line.

David Cole, Avon Valley Railway's development co-ordinator, said: "From a preservation point of view this is the biggest thing we've ever done at the railway in our 35-year history.

"We ran our first train in 1973 on a small scale of 50 yards of track.

"Now to be able to run engines of this size is a real achievement and everything has been done through volunteers and different fund-raising events.

"The general public using the Bristol to Bath railway path can enjoy it as well as real enthusiasts. For them, it is bringing back the memories they have.

"We've got a lot of people with us who were there in the early days and to see the railway as it is now with a locomotive brings back a lot of memories they had in the early days.

"It's one of a small number of opportunities to see living history.

"Many adults probably cannot remember steam engines and certainly the children can't.

"Unlike today's trains, locomotives have a life of their own - you can see the parts moving and the steam so they are almost like a living object.

"Children enjoy them as well as the adults."

The Fowler 7F will be returning more than 300 miles by road to the line where she used to run. Avon Valley Railway spokesman and volunteer Stuart Hobday says the visit is being aimed at nearby residents as well as railway fans.

He said: "It will be a very nostalgic return for this locomotive because it used to work through Bath and also down on Somerset and Dorset.

"It evokes huge passion.

"It's very emotive even to people who never knew steam because it's like a living, breathing piece of machinery.

"Part of the appeal of any steam locomotive is the art of the driver getting this big piece of machinery running.

"These days a train has an ignition and a key - it's just like driving a car."

Bitton Railway has to pay ú10,000 to get the Fowler 7F to Bitton and hire it for a week so it is trying to raise as much money as possible to cover the cost.

Avon Valley End of Season Gala 28th October 2007