The Lappa Valley at Newlyn East in Cornwall has repainted one of its most iconic 10¼-inch gauge locomotives as a tribute to one of Cornwall Air Ambulance’s helicopters, Duke of Cornwall.

The locomotive is similar in outline to a Class 52 “Western” diesel-hydraulic headquarters, and was built in 1981 by Severn Lamb at Alcester in Warwickshire.

It originally ran on the Carlyon Bay Railway until the mid-1990s, when it moved to Lappa Valley.

In 1995, when the railway opened the Newlyn Downs Branch Line, the Duke of Cornwall was its only locomotive.

The Duke of Cornwall has now been repainted in the same striking red and yellow livery used by the Cornwall Air Ambulance, which is appropriate as it is the railway’s Charity of the Year for 2026.

The idea for the repainting came after a team from the railway visited the Cornwall Air Ambulance headquarters earlier this year and discovered one of the charity’s two lifesaving helicopters is also named Duke of Cornwall.

It took six weeks to repaint the Duke of Cornwall into the colours of its airborne cousin.

The railway’s recent Charity Day showed the great affection that its visitors have for Cornwall Air Ambulance, and how the Duke of Cornwall holds a special place for so many families.

Repainting it in its new colours is a wonderful way to help keep the charity at the forefront of people’s minds throughout the railway’s 2026 season.

The locomotive is currently out of action, waiting for a mechanical overhaul, but it now has a new role in helping to raise awareness of Cornwall Air Ambulance in its need to raise more than £9 million in 2026 to keep the service airborne.

The Duke of Cornwall will be on static display from Monday, 18th May at the entrance to East Wheal Rose, welcoming visitors to the railway, alongside information boards telling the history of both the locomotive and the work of Cornwall Air Ambulance, which provides critical care by road, as well as by air, throughout Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The service carries out about 1,000 missions a year, providing a service for 19-hours a day, 365 days a year.

On Saturday, 13th and Sunday, 14th June, Lappa Valley is holding a major heritage gala when, for the first time, visiting steam locomotives will operate over the 15-inch gauge Main Railway, with five steam engines rostered, the highest number in the line’s history.