Class 0298 2-4-0WT Beattie LSWR design dating from 1874 as BR 30585 on a train at Alresford Station on the Mid Hants Railway
This is a class 0298 2-4-0WT (well tank), formerly Southern Railway no. 3314 of Beattie LSWE design dating from 1874. Originally no. 314, built in June 1874 by Beyer Peacock. In a well tank locomotive, the water tanks are not mounted above the footplate, but are set low down. On these locomotives, there were two tanks, both between the frames: one was above the leading axle, the other beneath the cab footplate. In 1958, they were noted as "the oldest design still in use on British Railways". Two of the locomotives have survived and are preserved. Number 298 (later renumbered 30587) is owned by the National Railway Museum and is loaned to, and normally based at, the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. Number 314 (30585) is owned by the Quainton Railway Society and normally based at their Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. In October 2010, 30585 was on short term loan to the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. Both preserved engines were in steam and operating trains together on parts of the routes they would have served between 1895 and 1962. It is seen at a steam gala on the Mid Hants Railway, affectionately known as the ‘Watercress Line’. This heritage railway was saved from total extinction by a band of enthusiastic volunteers in 1973. They raised enough money to re-open the line as a visitor attraction from Alresford to Ropley in 1977 and continued to raise funds to relay the track to join up with the South West Trains station at Alton by 1985, with our own station buildings on Platform 3. Today the railway runs the full 10 miles between the market towns of Alresford and Alton, preserving an important piece of our 1940’s – 70’s railway heritage for this generation and many more to follow. Famous for its gradients, our railway was nicknamed 'going over the Alps' by locomotive crews during the days of steam, due the the sheer effort required by man and machine to crest the summit at Medstead & Four Marks, the highest station above sea level in Southern England.
Size: 4200px × 3496px
Location: Alresford Station, Hampshire
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 0298, 2-4-0wt, 30585, alresford, beattie, br, british, carriages, hants, line, locomotive, lswr, mid, preserved, railway, smoke, station, steam, train, watercress
