The Spa Valley Railway has announced that A Class No. 52322 will be visiting the line from May to August 2018.

The locomotive is currently based at the East Lancashire Railway in Bury and is owned by Andy Booth.

This is the first time since its construction that the locomotive will be operating this far south of the country, meaning it is a good opportunity for you to get photos if you cant get up to the East Lancashire Railway normally.

It is expected for the A-Class to operate the majority of the railways Green Timetable services between May and August and will be used heavily at the Spa Valley Railway‘s Summer Festival, which is being held from Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st June 2018.

The locomotives first steam day will be Saturday 5th May using the Green Timetable between Tunbridge Wells West and Eridge.

A brief history of 52322

52322 is an L&Y Railway Class 27 and is a 0-6-0 type of steam locomotive. They were built for freight work over the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. 52322 was built-in 1896 at Horwich Works as Lancashire & Yorkshire No. 1300, later being renumbered LMS 12322 and BR 52322 in its working life, the locomotive is now preserved and appears in BR Black with the number 52322. 52322 is the only survivor of the 484 strong class of steam locomotive.

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Photo Credit: Liam Barnes – see his Flickr page by clicking here