The mainline return of GWR ‘Castle’ No. 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe has moved closer this week, with test runs within Tyseley Depot completed.

Test runs at the depot took place on Saturday 11th February and were deemed a success and on the 14th February, the locomotive received her statement of vehicle conformity.

This means that the locomotive is now deemed suitable for the national rail network and will be registered as operational in the Rolling Stock Library.

Further tests were also completed on the 14th February with no issues found.

The next step in the mainline return of 5043 is light and loaded test runs out on the mainline. These are expected to take place on the Saturday 25th February 2023. A light engine test run will take place between Tyseley and Stratford-upon-Avon and a loaded test run will take place between Tyseley and Leicester.

If no issues are found on the test runs, 5043 will officially be back as a mainline locomotive, with its first mainline tour expected to take place on the 4th March, double heading with 7029 Clun Castle to Didcot, where they will join up with 4079 and 5051 for the Four Castle Line Up.

Timings for the test runs have not yet been announced but will be shared over on our Mainline Steam page. RailAdvent Plus members will be directly notified of the timings being released – find out more information here.