The Severn Valley Railroad has unveiled the name of a spectacular guest locomotive that has been commissioned for its spring steam gala. The iconic 4079 “Pendennis Castle” will headline the Great Western Railroad’s historic railroad celebration from April 14-16.

This will be the first time in its 99-year history that the locomotive has appeared in passenger service on the UK Heritage Line and it looks set to attract a lot of attention, especially with the 100th anniversary of the Castle class this year. .

One of the earliest examples of the 4-6-0 Castle class and one of only three currently in service, the Pendennis has made headlines throughout its history. In 1925 he took part in the trials of Sir Nigel Gresley’s new Pacific aircraft, including 4,472 Flying Scots. “Pendennis” has won all the glory, very convincingly outperforming its larger competitors.

Many years later, after changing hands several times, he was reunited with the Flying Scotsman on the other side of the world. The two locomotives worked side by side in Perth in 1989, at the height of the Australian Bicentennial Tour.

Since 2000, the locomotive has returned to British soil, to the Didcot railway centre, under the ownership of the Great Western Society. After a lengthy renovation, it went into traffic last year.

“We are thrilled to host the named engine with the prestige of Pendennis Castle,” said Duncan Ballard, Head of Steam Engineering at SVR. “He will be a great front man for our GWR gala, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Big Four merger. We have an extremely strong working relationship with the Great Western Society and we are honored that they have chosen SVR to debut Pendennis outside of Didcot.”

The visitor will appear with another yet-to-be-announced guest, as well as 4930 “Hugley Hall”, 7812 “Erlestok Manor”, 7714 recently repainted in BR livery, and other members of the SVR home fleet.

Tickets for the Steam Spring Gala go on sale Friday, January 27 at 10:00 AM, as well as tickets for all SVR 2023 Galas, Standard Run Days, and Santa Claus Train. More information at www.svr.co.uk

Photo: Duncan Ballard

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