Steam Gallery

Much of the "show" running on the Churnet Valley Railway is steam hauled. Resident locos, like the S160s and TKhs, are restored and maintained at facilities in Cheddleton. Others are brought in from all over the country for loan spells, from a few days to a few years.

Click a thumbnail to enlarge it and to see more pictures of the same loco.

Current Residents

S160 Class 5197

The S160's were built in the U.S.A. in the 1940s and some were sent to Britain during WWII. They were intended as a stop-gap solution for a rail network ruined by war but, after the war, this one managed an additional 50-year career hauling coal in China. After retirement, it was brought to the UK for restoration and moved to the C.V.R. in 2001. It's now painted in US Army Transportation Corps colours as used in the UK during 1944/45.

S160 Class 6046

This S160 was sent to France for the reconstruction after WWII. When the French were finished with it, it was passed on to Hungary for the rest of its working life. After retirement, it was brought to the UK for restoration, where, after some initial work elsewhere, it came to the C.V.R. as a long-term resident. It was restored to operation in 2012.

Stanier 8F 48173

Stanier 8F 48173 is a star of the future. It was aquired from the Avon Valley Railway by a C.V.R. director back in 2008 but sat in storage while other projects, such as the overhaul of 5197, took precedence. The restoration eventually began in early 2017 and was expected to take about four years. This is how it looked back in 2008, when it was on display during the winter steam gala.

Andrew Barclay No. 2226 'Katie'

Andrew Barclay No. 2226 spent her working life, from 1946 to 1968, at ICI in Huddersfield. After retirement, she worked, for a while, on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway before becoming a static attraction in a garden centre picnic area. She was brought to the Churnet Valley in 2016, with restoration scheduled to begin in late 2017.

TKh 2944 'Hotspur'

The TKhs were built by Fablok in Poland, between 1947 and 1961, as industrial shunters. The 'TKh' designation indicates a 0-6-0 freight tank engine. 2944 was brought from Poland to the Spa Valley Railway in the late 1990s, where it hauled passanger services, for a while. After that, it languished in storage for a time until being bought by C.V.R. volunteers in 2013 and restored.

4F 44422

Fowler 4F 44422 was built in Derby for the Midland Railway in 1927. Back in the early 90s, it was the first resident steam engine to run on the C.V.R. after restoration at Cheddleton. It visited to take part in the 2008 and 2009 winter steam galas but an intended longer stay was cut short by "excessive knocking noises". It returned to Cheddleton as a resident at the end of 2019.

TKh 2871

2871 is the twin of 2944 and is currently stored, awaiting overhall.

Former Residents and Visitors

7820 'Dinmore Manor'

'Dinmore Manor' came to the railway for the 25th Anniversary Gala in October 2017. Like its sibling, 'Ditcheat Manor', which visited the railway back in the mid-2000s, 'Dinmore Manor' is an ex-British Rail engine, built to a Great Western Railway design in 1950. It is owned by Dinmore Manor Locomotive Limited, who restored it from scrap, back in the 1990s. It is currently based at the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway.

N7 69621

After a few weeks with no steam on the line, AJ Hill N7 69621 arrived at the end of May 2012, on loan from the East Anglia Railway Museum.
The loco was put straight into service for the spring bank-holiday weekend, although it needed a bit of extra shove from 33021 for runs up to Cauldon Lowe.

34007 Bulleid Pacific 'Wadebridge'

The distinctive air-smoothed casings got these locos the nickname 'spam cans'. 'Wadebridge' was built in Brighton in 1945 and it operated in the southern region until being sent for scrap in 1965. She was rescued for restoration in 1981 and, after 25 years of effort, returned to steam in 2006.

Lambton Tank No.29

The Lambton 0-6-2T tank engines were built in Leeds for the Lambton Collieries in County Durham. When they were being retired, at the end of the 1960s, No.29 and its sister, No.5, were transferred to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, in whose livery they are painted. They are owned and maintained by the Lambton Locomotives Trust.

GWR Large Prairie 5199

5199 came from the Llangollen Railway in 2009, originally arriving for the winter steam gala. It also took part in the 2010 steam gala and was the main source of steam power on the C.V.R. for much of 2011, finally departing after the steam gala in February 2012. It was originally built by the Great Western Railway in Swindon in 1934.

71000 'Duke of Gloucester'

BR Class 8 Pacific locomotive No 71000 'Duke of Gloucester' was one of the star attractions during the reopening gala for the Cauldon Lowe Branch. In fact, it was the pilot locomotive for the first train. The Duke was built in 1954 as the first of an intended new class of locomotives for the West Coast Main Line. However, no more were built and 71000 was withdrawn in 1962.

Stanier 8F 8624

8624 came on loan for 2010 from Peak Rail in Derbyshire. It's a recently-restored loco. of the same type as 48173. It was built in 1943 and was based at Willesden in London until retirement in 1965. After sixteen years in a scrap yard, it was rescued by Peak Rail, where it was restored to running condition in 2009. Since leaving the CVR, it has been repainted black and renumbered as British Rail 48624.

Standard Tank 80098

80098 is a BR Standard 4MT Tank locomotive built in 1954. It was on long-term loan at the C.V.R. but returned to its home at the Midland Railway Centre, Butterley, in mid-2008.

Standard Tank 80072

80072 is a close relative of 80098. It normally lives on the Llangollen Railway but it visited the C.V.R. in February 2010 for the winter steam gala.

GWR Small Prairie 5542

5542 is normally based down in the south-west, which is appropriate for an ex-GWR loco. However, in 2010 it came up north for the steam gala as a late replacement for 'Duke of Gloucester', which was withdrawn because of overrunning repairs.

7821 'Ditcheat Manor'

Seen here waiting in Consall station back in 2006, 'Ditcheat Manor' is an ex-British Rail engine, built to a Great Western Railway design in 1950. Unfortunately, in 2007, its boiler ticket expired, so it could no longer run. In May 2008 it was sitting rather forlornly in Cheddleton yard, waiting for "movement or sale". It was subsequently aquired by the West Somerset Railway.

4771 'Green Arrow'

"Green Arrow" is the sole surviving LNER Class V2, designed by Nigel Gresley in the 1930s. During the early part of 2008, it came to the C.V.R. as part of its farewell tour. Its home is the National Railway Museum in York, to where it has now retired.

Caledonian Railway No. 419

No. 419 came south for the 2019 Winter Steam Gala from the Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway. It's an 0-4-4T, which was built in Glasgow in 1907. It spent the majority of its life in Scotland with the Caledonian Railway, LMS and BR until retirement in 1964 and sale to the Scottish Railway Preservation Society.

GWR 4277 'Hercules'

4277, sometimes known as 'Hercules', visited from the Dartmouth Steam Railway for the winter of 2017/18. Built in Swindon in 1920, it spent most of its working life in Wales before withdrawal in 1964. After retirement, it found its way to the famous Woodhams Scrapyard in Barry, from where it was rescued in the mid-1980s.

South Eastern & Chatham Railway P-class 323 'Bluebell'

'Bluebell' visited from the Bluebell Railway for the 2017 Winter Steam Gala. Built in 1910, it was one of the first two locomotives on the railway in 1960, having been transferred straight from British Rail service to preservation.

68030

68030, a.k.a. Hunslet no. 3777, finished its working life at Wolstanton Colliery at Newcastle-under-Lyme where it was numbered as NCB no. 9. It was brought to Cheddleton in the early days of the railway, where it was restored and became the first steam locomotive to run on the demonstration line in Cheddleton Yard. It returned in 2016 for an intended overhaul but its owners and the railway were unable to agree terms and it left again early in 2017.

Great Western No. 5619

5619 was built in Swindon in 1924 to haul coal in the South Wales Valleys. After retirement it found its way to the famous Woodhams Scrapyard in Barry, from where it was rescued and then restored. It is owned by Telford Steam Railway and came to visit the C.V.R. for Christmas 2015, staying until the steam gala in February 2016.

Steam Railmotor No.93

The steam railmotor, like the modern DMU, was designed for local trains with a cab at each end for easy reversing. This one was built in 1908 in Swindon. It was withdrawn from service in 1934 and ultimately ended up as an office in Birmingham before being rescued by the Great Western Society in 1970.

Beyer Peacock 1827

1827 normally lives on the Foxfield Railway a few miles away in Blythe Bridge. It's quite an old loco. originally built in 1879. During the 2010 winter steam gala, it was sitting in the yard at Cheddleton waiting for an overhall. By the summer of 2013, it was rolling up and down the yard at Cheddleton, back under its own power.

U Class 31806

Ex Southern Region Maunsell U Class 31806 came to the C.V.R. from the Mid Hants Railway for the February 2013 Steam Gala. It was originally K class tank engine called "River Torridge" but was rebuilt as a tender engine in the late 1920s. It was withdrawn from service in 1964 but returned to steam at the Mid Hants Railway in 2011.

Black 5 45379

Stanier Black 5 class 4-6-0 45379 came to the C.V.R. from the Mid Hants Railway for the February 2012 Steam Gala. It stayed on into March and was the only source of steam power on the line after the failure of 44767 'George Stephenson' and the over-run of the restoration of S160 6046.

Black 5 44767 'George Stephenson'

Stanier Black 5 class 4-6-0 44767 'George Stephenson' returned to the C.V.R. for the winter of 2011/12. Unfortunately, in the run-up to the February Steam Gala, it suffered a failure to a weld repair and had to be withdrawn.

Black 5 45231 'The Sherwood Forester'

Stanier Black 5 class 4-6-0 45231 'The Sherwood Forester' visited the C.V.R. for the 2009 winter steam gala. The weather was obligingly wintery and the cold air showed the steam locos. off to their best effect.

3F 'Jinty' 47279

In October 2008, 3F 47279 was on an exchange visit from the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, with S160 5179 heading in the other direction for a steam gala. This engine was originally built for the L.M.S. in 1925.

The official railway website is at www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk