The Somerset and Dorset Railway at Midsomer Norton has announced that they have extended the loan of 5459 Austin 1 until the end of 2022.

An agreement has been made with the Llangollen Railway to keep the 0-6-0 at Midsomer Norton after arriving from Wales in July 2021.

This is the second time that the locomotive’s loan down south has been extended, after it was extended in September 2021 until January 2022.

Built by Kitson, Austin 1 spent most of its working life in Austin Motor Co in Longbridge before being donated to the Flint and Deeside Preservation Society, which became the Llangollen Railway.

Austin 1 is the first locomotive the Llangollen Railway owned and is still owned by the Llangollen Railway Trust. The current livery was unveiled last year.

A spokesperson for the Somerset and Dorset Railway at Midsomer Norton said “We are absolutely delighted to announce that we have extended the hire agreement with the Llangollen Railway Trust Ltd to retain 5459 ‘Austin 1’ here on the S&D for the whole of 2022.

“We thank the Llangollen Railway Trust for loaning us the locomotive since July 2021 and for their continuing support.”

Lots of different events will be taking place in 2022, and as the SDR is entirely volunteer run – they need your help. There are lots of opportunities in catering, operations, admin and retail. Interested? Get in touch with the Somerset and Dorset Railway.