GWR 94XX Pannier No. 9466, owned by Jonathan Jones-Pratt, is to see out its boiler ticket on the West Somerset Railway and will join its home fleet of locomotives.

The locomotive has been on hire to the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway since 2020.

The analysis of whether 9466 was within weight restrictions of the WSR’s line and bridges was undertaken by Bob Meanley, director of mechanical engineering at the WSR, and Paul Dawkins, the board advisor for infrastructure.

A key factor in the analysis was the force of ‘hammer blow’ which is delivered by the driving wheels. The analysis took all aspects into account, including a top operating speed of 25mph, and found that the Pannier was safe to run.

WSR communications director Frank Courtney said the new approach to the question of weights meant that the Board could review other possible guest and long-term resident locomotives, and the line was likely to see a wider range of locomotives than in the last few years. “What this does mean is the WSR is on its way back to using bigger locos. A lot of work has been done on our infrastructure and it will now improve year on year, so it’s a positive picture.”, said Frank.

9466 was built in 1952 and was originally used for shunting and local services before withdrawal in 1964. 11 years after withdrawal and rusting at Woodhams Scrapyard, Dennis Howells MBE purchased the locomotive and returned it to mainline service.

Mr Howells passed away in August 2018 and the locomotive was purchased by Jonathan Jones Pratt to boost the WSR fleet.

The West Somerset Railway is expected to resume trains on the 19th March 2022.