Steam returns to Southwold after 88 years

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PECKETT 0-6-0ST Scaldwell has left its long-time home at Amberley Museum for restoration to running order on the Southwold Railway.

The locomotive, No. 1316 of 1913, was taken by low-loader from the Sussex museum where it had spent the last 35 years. As previously reported, the museum agreed that Southwold was the best place for it.

The official handover of Scaldwell from Amberley Museum to Southwold Railway Trust officials after it was winched on to a low-loader for its journey to East Anglia. AMBERLEY MUSEUM

At Amberley, the narrow gauge running line is 2ft, but Scaldwell was built to 3ft gauge, for the Lamport Ironstone Company in Northamptonshire. While 3ft gauge is a rarity on the UK mainland, several industrial and ironstone quarry lines were built to that gauge in that county.

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There would never be an incentive for Amberley to overhaul Scaldwell. However, the Southwold Railway was built to 3ft gauge, and the new visitor centre at Southwold will have a running line built to that gauge.

Scaldwell went to Amberley when the Brockham Museum’s collection was acquired in the early 1980s.

Southwold Railway Trust chairman James Hewitt said: “We are extremely pleased that Amberley believes we’re the right place for Scaldwell, and thankful to everyone involved. We will do our very best to get it in steam again as soon as we can.”

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Amberley’s deputy director Rachel Spiller said: “It’s fantastic that this loco now has the chance to be restored and used again. “We’re pleased it’s going to a good home and we look forward to seeing the transformation take place.”

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