Last Saturday, 7 October, the bells of St Mary's Church, which overlooks Swanage station, rang out to celebrate the return to service of Adams T3 Class 4-4-0 No. 563 after a six-year £650,000 restoration.
The bells accompanied a launch ceremony held at Swanage station, and one of the guests was Swanage Railway Trust Patron Sir Philip Williams, whose great-grandfather was on the Board of the London and South Western Railway Company that designed and built the steam locomotive.
Generations of Sir Philip's ancestors also played an important part in enabling the London and South Western Railway to reach Dorchester, from Southampton, in 1847 by helping to promote the required Act in Parliament and buying land over which the railway would need a right of way.
Other guests included the Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset Angus Campbell; senior National Railway Museum curator Anthony Coulls, and Robert Adams, a descendant of the 563's Victorian designer William Adams.
No. 563's first two passenger trains carried only invited guests and supporters of the Swanage Railway Trust's T3 restoration project, and ran between Swanage and Harman's Cross, Corfe Castle, and Norden. Yesterday Sunday, 8 October, 563 hauled its first public-carrying passenger trains and will again be in service during half-term week from Saturday, 21 to Sunday, 29 October.
It is recommended that tickets are purchased online at swanagerailway.co.uk, but they can also be purchased on the day from Swanage station, subject to availability.
The T3 Class locomotive was built in 1893 to a design by William Adams, and unlike the rest of the class escaped being scrapped so it could mark the centenary of London's Waterloo station in 1948. In 2017, the National Railway Museum donated it to the Swanage Railway Trust which entrusted its restoration to the Flour Mill workshops in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire and at the Swanage Railway's Herston engineering works.
Swanage Railway Trust chairman Gavin Johns said: “We were able to celebrate the T3's return to passenger service after 78 years thanks to the National Railway Museum's faith in the Swanage Railway Trust, the dedicated work of the 563 team, the strong support of our donors who shared the vision to return the engine to steam and the engineering skills of the team at the Flour Mill in Gloucestershire.
“What a brilliant and very original experience which is a great example of enthusiasm for Britain's railways at their very best.
“It was a pleasure to greet the Lord-Lieutenant and his wife who, along with Sir Philip and Lady Williams, were our guests of honour. It was good to see that they were able to meet as many supporters and guests as possible and had a great day on the Railway.
“The newly restored T3 looked magnificent in the October sunshine with the locomotive resplendent in its London and South Western Railway livery,” added Gavin who is also a volunteer signalman on the Swanage Railway.
One of 563 Locomotive Group's small team of volunteers who masterminded the ambitious and challenging restoration of the T3, Will Sheret, had the honour of firing the T3's first passenger train since 1945. He explained: “It was great fun and wonderful to see so many T3 supporters and donors enjoying No. 563 and the Swanage Railway – a day that I could have scarcely imagined three years ago when we restarted the project after the end of the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“It was brilliant to enjoy the honour of firing the T3 on its first passenger train since 1945. It was somewhat of an adjustment compared to our bigger resident steam locomotives on the Swanage Railway like our 1940s Bulleid Pacifics.
“With a smaller boiler, you have to focus and be on top of the job at all times but it's a real privilege to fire a Victorian locomotive hauling passenger trains for the first time in 78 years.”
Anthony Coulls, Senior Curator of Rail Transport and Technology at the National Railway Museum, said: “The National Railway Museum transferred the T3 class locomotive No. 563 to the Swanage Railway Trust in 2017 because of the heritage railway's outstanding record in recreating a classic Southern Region branch line and the locomotive's strong historical connections to the area.
“We are thrilled to see the T3 returning to steam for the first time in 75 years and now being able to offer passengers the unique experience of riding behind the Victorian locomotive through the Purbeck countryside.”
The Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset, Angus Campbell, said: “Returning the T3 to the rails is a triumph for the Swanage Railway as well as its dedicated volunteers and supporters. An elegant example of living history, No. 563 will be seen in all her glory in the Isle of Purbeck to the delight of all.
“The restoration of No. 563 is a magnificent example of what can be done with true dedication, determination and very hard work. She brings the beauty of our Victorian past back to Dorset and is yet another triumph for the Swanage Railway.”
Swanage Railway Trust Patron, Sir Philip Williams, said: “The T3 is a magnificent and supremely elegant locomotive – a wonderful living exemplar of the great age of steam in the territory for which she was designed. It will be fantastic to see No. 563 in steam and raring to go again.
“It is also a very great pleasure and privilege for me to have been asked to participate in No. 563's launch ceremony and ride in her first train. Because of my family link to the London and South Western Railway and the T3, I will have a real sense of history in re-launching the locomotive.”
Not a great lover of steam locomotives, but this is a remarkable restoration and story and my admiration goes out to everyone.