A runaway engineer

5637
200 locomotives of the 56xx class were built by the Great Western Railway in the 1920's.

Ex GWR 56XX Class 0-6-2T 5637 worked in the South Wales coalfields under the GWR and passed on to British Rail when the GWR was nationalised.

With the end of steam on British Railways, 5637 was withdrawn from service and sent to Woodhams Scrapyard.

In the late 1970's, 5637 was purchased for preservation by the GW Steam Loco Fund (now the 5637 Steam Locomotive Group) and taken to the Swindon & Cricklade Railway. The locomotive was gradually restored to running condition in primitive working conditions and in 1998, 5637 was finally returned to steam, 16 years after it arrived at the Swindon & Cricklade Railway.

Sadly the S&CR authorities decided that they could not afford to use 5637 regularly, so the locomotive made its way to a new home, here at the East Somerset Railway. The boiler certificate expired in 2007 and over the next three years, 5637 underwent a complete overhaul.

5637 has now returned to service and is in its third livery since restoration. It is one of our two main engines at the ESR.