- Class: H
- Wheels: 0-4-4T
- Built: 1905
- Numbers Carried: 263, A263, 1263, 31263
- Last Overhaul Completed: 28 May 2012
- Owned By: The Bluebell Railway Trust
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Built as the standard loco for the SECR’s suburban services, the H-class were a popular loco in later years for services on rural branch lines in Sussex, especially after the withdrawal of the LBSCR D3 tanks. This particular locomotive ended up working the line between East Grinstead and Three Bridges and was withdrawn when that line was closed in January 1964. Purchased from BR by the H-Class Trust, it was initially located at Robertsbridge, but soon found a home at the South Eastern Steam Centre at Ashford, where the engine appeared at various open days. However, in 1975 the Trustees decided that the locomotive would have much more scope for running if based on the Bluebell. Since then it has had two periods in steam. In 2008 ownership was transferred to the Bluebell Railway Trust, which funded an overhaul which started in March 2009, with a return to service, again in full Edwardian SECR livery, in July 2012. In 2017 it received a full repaint in preparation for exhibition at the Warley model railway show.
Its recent boiler certificate expired in February 2022. The work is to be funded by a grant from the Bluebell Railway Trust, in part thanks to a bequest left by Ray Tanner specifically for work on this locomotive. It entered the Locomotive Works in November 2022 for what is expected to be a very rapid overhaul, in view of the generally good condition of the boiler, and recent significant mechanical work. The work planned includes a boiler lift, new crown girders and tubes, new tyres, new cylinder block, and new springs.
→ Find out more
→ News of current overhaul
→ Details of 2009 overhaul
