The Corris Railway has announced that it has temporarily paused work on New Build Falcon steam locomotive No. 10, which is being built at Alan Keef Ltd.

Considerable progress has been made in 2021, with the boiler and cab being placed on the frames for modifications to be made if necessary. This followed on from the completion of the rolling chassis, with the wheels and motion being successfully operated by compressed air.

However, a lot of parts still need to be manufactured, such as the saddle tank, and whilst it is only a small locomotive, building a machine dating back to 1878 has proven costly and time consuming.

Costs have been monitored throughout the project, with the completion target of Autumn 2022 being achievable. However, with inflation of materials putting prices up, it became clear that costs were rising and funds were becoming depleted.

The decision to pause work will allow funds to recover and will allow a speedy resumption of the work.

If you would like to donate towards the Falcon Appeal, please visit the Corris Railway website.

A spokesperson for the Corris Railway said: “Mounting costs has caused the Corris Railway to temporarily pause work on the new build Falcon steam locomotive No. 10, being constructed by Alan Keef Ltd.”

“This has not been an easy decision for the Corris to make but from the formative years of the revival it has been Corris Railway Society policy not to spend money that it does not have and only dip into its general funds to complete particularly time sensitive projects.”