Amberley Museum has an appeal running to raise funds for steam engine ‘Polar Bear’ after she was removed from service on the 29th of October following the expiry of her 10-year boiler certificate.

The locomotive will need a full mechanical and boiler overhaul which will see the retubing and restudding of the boiler alongside a new main steam pipe.

Amberly Museum carried out a successful fundraiser for its 1918 Bagnall Steam Locomotive ‘Peter’ to enable substantial repairs alongside major boiler work and was able to haul services once again in June 2022. The museum now needs to raise £25,000 in order to complete the 10-year overhaul of the extremely popular ‘Polar Bear’ in order to see her back in action and running at the railway’s many popular events such as the spine-tingling spooktacular which took place in October.

No. 1781 Polar Bear was built by W.G. Bagnall of Stafford in 1905 for the Groudle Glen Railway on the Isle of Man and was the larger sized of two locomotives which were used at the site until the line was closed in 1962. The locomotive was acquired by Brockham Museum Association in 1967 before coming to Amberley Museum as part of the Brockham collection in 1982 which saw the restoration that had begun at Brockham completed. Polar Bear was the very first steam locomotive to run at Amberley Museum.

The locomotive’s extensive rebuild during the early 1990s saw ‘Polar Bear’ get a new boiler just in time for a visit to her original home at Groundle Glen in 1993. The visit saw ‘Polar Bear reunited with ‘Sea Lion’ the over locomotive which worked on the railway and was now back in action steaming up the restored line. Polar Bear also visited Groundle Glen in 1996, 2005 which also saw ‘Sea Lion’ pay a visit to Amberley Museum, and in 2016. The Groundle Glen Railway has recently finished building a replica of ‘Polar Bear’ from the original drawings and has been named ‘Brown Bear’.

To support ‘Polar Bears’ overhaul, please donate here