Norfolk Heritage Steam Railway Ltd’s Hunslet ‘Austerity’ No. 3193 has made a surprise move to Bressingham Steam Museum, where it will spend much of the winter.
The newly overhauled 0-6-0ST left Mervyn Mayes’ site at the Old Goods Yard in Yaxham, next to the Mid-Norfolk Railway, on November 28 bound for Diss. No. 3193 had been based in the yard since acquired for overhaul in 2009.
However, the need for painting and testing meant the group needed an alternative base to finish the overhaul.
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At Bressingham the NHSRL will complete the final few outstanding detail tasks, along with work specified by the boiler inspector during his last visit to Yaxham.
Once satisfied, No. 3193 will undergo testing over the museum’s demonstration line, after which the group plans to complete the paintwork. This will be finished in the style of that carried by No. 3193 when active at the Cairnryan Military Railway, near Stranraer, in 1952, when numbered 75142.
In spite of having originally been bought by the NHSRL for use on the Mid-Norfolk Railway, it is unclear as to whether No. 3193 will call the railway ‘home’ in the immediate future.
There has been much interest in hiring No. 3193 from other heritage railways once it returns to service in early 2018, with these being being considered by its directors.
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