The Rother Valley Railway has issued an update on the overhaul of 0-6-0 saddle tank Charwelton.

Charwelton is now being overhauled at the Flour Mill workshops in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. A lot of the pipework has been refitted, and the Flour Mill engineers are confident that they are near the completion of the rebuild.

New pipework has been connected to the water feed injector, and the clack valve has been machined ready for refitting.

The vacuum brake ejector has been fitted to the underside of the saddle tank, and piping has been refitted to the various valves and fittings. Two new steam manifolds and associated new valves have been installed, with the new valves being of a Great Western Railway (GWR) type.

Circular wooden mounts have been attached to the cab front to hold the various steam and vacuum gauges in place, and the new boiler inner firebox has slightly different dimensions from the original, requiring new firebars to be cast.

Built by Manning Wardle in 1917 for the Parkgate Iron and Steel Company of Charwelton, Northamptonshire, it was transferred in 1942 to Sproxton quarry in Lincolnshire, where it underwent a major overhaul.

When Sproxton quarry closed in 1963, Charwelton was purchased by the Kent & East Sussex Railway (KESR) and moved to the railway’s headquarters at Tenterden. Kent in January 1964, where it was used to haul works trains

In 1976, Charwelton was purchased by the Rother Valley Railway, where it underwent restoration. In September 1982, it went on long-term loan to the Kent & East Sussex Railway and was given the KESR number 14. Since then, Charwelton has been on loan to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in Yorkshire and the Baie de Somme Railway in northern France.

On 12th May, the Rother Valley Railway’s new station at Robertsbridge was officially opened by Lord Peter Hendy of Richmond Hill, who had previously given his personal support to the Rother Valley Railway Heritage Trust’s £350,000 Buildings Appeal.