As expected, steam locomotive Kilmersdon has arrived at the Somerset and Dorset Railway at Midsomer Norton ready for hauling trains during the railway's Halloween events later this month and its Santa events in December.
The locomotive travelled on a low loader from Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway to Midsomer Norton, where arrived safely last Monday, 16 October.
After unloading, the on-site footplate crew carried out a familiarisation session so that it would be ready to run on Sunday, 22 October, followed by Halloween trains on 29 October when there will be free travel for children wearing Halloween costumes. Tickets for the Halloween trains can be purchased here.
Later this year Kilmersdon will haul Santa at the Station trains that start on 2 December, and New Year trains. Full details and tickets for those events can be found here.
Kilmersdon is an 0-4-0 saddle tank R3 class locomotive that was built by Peckett & Sons, in Bristol. It is owned by the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust but normally operates on The Watercress Line in Hampshire.
Most of its working life was at Kilmersdon Colliery near Radstock, just a few miles from Midsomer Norton. When Kilmersdon Colliery closed, the National Coal Board placed it in the care of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Museum Trust at Radstock, where it was moved by road in 1973.
In 1983, Kilmersdon was moved to Washford on the West Somerset Railway, where it was normally used for shunting, but occasionally made trips along the full length of the line. In 2021, the Somerset & Dorset Railway Museum Trust moved Kilmersdon to the Mid Hants Railways workshops at Ropley to be overhauled.
A few years ago Kilmersdon was loaned to the Helston Railway in Cornwall, where it helped to operate trains over the line for the first time in 55 years.
The late Rev Audrey must have been inspired by this one, an it looks just like “Percy” from his Thomas the tank engine stories