Great Central Railway Loughborough 7th April 2004

Great Central Railway. In Loughborough shed yard prior to firing Pete Waterman's Great Western Railway 2-6-2 Small Prairie 5553 on 7th April 2004. This was the last steam engine to leave Barry scrap yard & was on short term loan to the GCR to cover an engine shortage.

This was the only time I fired this engine but it was a dream to work because it was just out of the works, steamed on nothing & the bunker was still filled with coal from somewhere else. This coal burned without clouds of black smoke and didn't clinker unlike the junk we were using at the time.

On the left is the boiler from 30777 Sir Lamiel & on the right that anaemic flesh coloured vehicle is the steam crane. It is currently under restoration again (2007) & will be painted a more railway-like black when finished. I recently spent a couple of days undercoating the jib.