FOWLER ‘7F’ No. 53809 returned to joint railway metals again this summer – but many miles away from its traditional Somerset & Dorset ‘home’.
The North Norfolk Railway (NNR), which operates over five miles of former Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway track, played host to the 1925-built workhorse, which was making its first visit to the line.
It came after many years of persistent attempts by NNR chairman Julian Birley to convince the locomotive-owning group, led by John Moorhouse, to allow No. 53809 to appear in East Anglia.
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Despite successful turns at the NNR’s steam gala and wartime weekend (September 2-4 and September 17-19, respectively), there was a sad footnote to the ‘7F’s’ visit, because its whistle was lost en route from the West Somerset Railway.
Read more in October’s edition of The RM
