The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway has announced that one of its flagship locomotives, Russell, will be withdrawn from service on Saturday, 19th April for its ten-yearly overhaul.

Before its withdrawal, Russell will be diagrammed to haul services from Porthmadog Harbour to Beddgelert on Saturday, 5th April, departing from Porthmadog Harbour at 11.25 and 15.00 and on Saturday 12th April departing from Porthmadog Harbour at 10.55 and 13.30.

On Friday, 18th April, Russell will operate over the complete length of the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways from Porthmadog Harbour to Caernarfon, departing from Porthmadog at 11.10.

Russell is a 2-6-2 side tank locomotive ordered in 1906 for the planned Portmadoc, Beddgelert & South Snowdon Railway Company, which was never fully completed.

It was later used by the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Company until 1922 when it merged with the Portmadoc, Beddgelert & South Snowdon Railway Company to form the Welsh Highland Railway.

In 1923, Russell was modified to suit the Ffestiniog Railway’s restricted loading gauge, but the modifications not successful as it was still too large to work Ffestiniog Railway trains to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

In 1942, Russell was requisitioned for the War effort and after being overhauled at the Brymbo Steel Company it worked at an opencast ironstone site near Hook Norton in Oxfordshire. After the War, Russell was sold to the Norden Clay Mines at Corfe in Dorset, but because of the poor state of the track, it was eventually withdrawn from service in 1953.

It was later purchased by the Birmingham Locomotive Society for £70 and transferred it to the Talyllyn railway at Towyn, and after being overhauled it worked at Kinnerley, Carnforth, Llanberis, and finally to Gelerts Farm Works near Portmadog.

Russell’s original restoration was completed in 1987, and it operated service until being withdrawn again in 2003 for another major overhaul.

That was completed in August 2014, since when it has been a regular performer on the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway from Porthmadog.