The Erlestoke Manor Fund has announced that 7802 Bradley Manor has passed a hot insurance exam.

The exam took place at Tyseley Locomotive Works on the 10th January 2025 and should help to see the locomotive move to the Severn Valley Railway before the end of January.

An agreement has been signed last year that will see 7802 based at the Severn Valley Railway on an ongoing basis, providing a loco close to home for volunteers as the heavy repair and new cylinders bed in.

A new tender for the loco is a year from completion, so 7802’s temporary tender is already at the Severn Valley Railway under the form of 2857’s tender.

It is planned that both 7802 and 7812 will feature at the Severn Valley Railway’s Spring Steam Gala, before the latter heads off to the West Somerset Railway.

“ I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to our EMF Volunteers for their tireless work since 2019, input from the wider steam movement and to colleagues at Tyseley Locomotive Works for their help and support in the first Manor cylinder block replacement in the preservation era. It will be so wonderful to see Bradley back in action”.

Adrian Hassell, Chair of the EMF