The West Somerset Railway has announced its first guest for their three-day Autumn Steam Weekend from the 25th to the 27th September 2026.

Ivatt 2-6-2 Tank No. 41313, which is based on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and is currently on tour across the mainland, will be returning to West Country metals.

Following completion in 1952, No. 41313 was based in the West Country on the Southern Region under British Railways. The class 2 was no stranger to the handful of lines that used to be spread right across Devon and North Cornwall, commonly known as the Withered Arm.

The locomotive spent time at Exmouth and Barnstable sheds and worked many Southern Region branch lines in the South West of England before being withdrawn in 1965.

Following a spell in Barry Scrapyard, the locomotive is now based on the Isle of Wight and returned to steam in 2017.

Although no stranger to the West Country, No. 41313 will be breaking new ground running between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead, a former Western Region branch line. It will be this loco’s first visit to this part of West Somerset.

The Autumn gala at the West Somerset Railway is part of the Railway’s 50th Anniversary celebrations. Additional visiting locomotives to visit for this milestone anniversary event will be announced in due course.