A QUESTION mark hangs over the future of Barnsley's Elsecar Heritage Railway (EHR) after the line's custodian, the Elsecar Heritage Railway Trust (EHRT), handed back the lease of the mile-long line to the local council.
The sale of the EHRT's 1954-built Peckett'OQ'0-o-0ST Mardy Monster during June raised concerns over the trust's financial situation, coming less than a year after the group bought it from previous owner, Harry Stenton.
Mr Stenton sold the loco to the EHRT in the hope it would complete the overhaul he started, but could not afford to complete himself.
The Peckett was sold through AES South Yorkshire, which had been looking after the railway interests at Elsecar for the trust.
The new owner has yet to be formally identified, but it is known the powerful loco left Elsecar in early July and is currently in store in the Midlands.