A SWANAGE railway group has launched an £85,000 appeal to lovingly restore an iconic Victorian locomotive. 

Swanage Railway Trust’s 563 Locomotive Group has launched the appeal to complete an ambitious and meticulous restoration of the 81-tonne T3 locomotive. 

Bound for a scrapyard despite being one of the finest express passenger train locomotives of the Victorian era, the T3 was saved from being cut up so it could be used to help celebrate the centenary of London’s Waterloo station in 1948. 

Dating from 1893, and the last survivor of its class, London and South Western Railway T3 No. 563 had travelled a total of more than 1.5million miles when it was withdrawn from service by the Southern Railway Company in August, 1945. 

Bournemouth Echo:

The project, costing a total of £600,000, started in 2017, with work on the locomotive being carried out by specialist contractors in the Forest of Dean and at the Swanage Railway’s Herston engineering works. 

The chairman of the 563 Locomotive Group, Nathan Au, said: “It’s very exciting to see the finishing line for the challenging and meticulous restoration of a unique Victorian steam locomotive come into sight – we are on the final sprint and almost there. 

“The unique and iconic No. 563 will offer something new and exciting to everyone on the Swanage Railway – enabling our visitors, members, volunteers and locomotive crews to enjoy an evocative taste of Victorian train travel.”