BR Class 47 diesel locomotive No. 47292 has arrived at the Churnet Valley Railway for a five-year-year loan to the railway.

It was announced that the Class 47 would be moving to the Churnet Valley Railway back in May 2022.

The locomotive was transferred by road from its former base at the Nottingham Heritage Railway (formerly known as Great Central Railway (Nottingham)) at Ruddington in Nottinghamshire, and arrived at Froghall on 22nd June.

The loco was then transferred to the line’s engineering base at Cheddleton where work has begun to bring it back into service.

47292 has not operated since 2019, and on arrival at Cheddleton there was a small repairs list to be completed before it could enter service. Within a matter of days, the air system had been inspected and made operational, with efforts then focussed on the electrical side of things. The engine was successfully coaxed into life on the evening of Sunday, 3rd July, and the Sulzer locomotive breathed life for the first time in nearly three years.

It is planned to start test running within a couple of weeks, before entering service on the railway later this summer.

The locomotive was built at Crewe and entered service as D1994 on 16th April 1966.

This year, there have been many issues regarding the supply of coal and its subsequent volatile purchase price, so diesel-hauled services have played a major role in running services on the Churnet Valley Railway this year.

Whilst the railway’s management has had very productive discussions with UK coal suppliers, there are still ongoing difficulties. For the rest of this month, Saturday services will continue to be diesel-hauled, and this will be extended to Tuesday services as well. This will be reviewed before the running of August’s planned services when it is hoped to re-introduce a full steam operation for what is usually a busy period over the summer holidays