BR‘4MT’2-6-4T No. 80150 was successfully relocated by rail from Alresford to Ropley on the Watercress Line on the evening ofTuesday, August 8.This move formed part of a reorganisation of the country (Winchester) end of Alresford station, which will culminate in‘Battle of Britain’ 4-6-2 No. 34058 Sir Frederick Pile being transported to the Sellindge base of Southern Locomotives Ltd for full restoration.
Acquired by the Mid-Hants Railway (MHR) from theVale of Glamorgan Council in 2011, No. 80150 remains one of two unrestored examples of the 15 surviving Standard Four 2-6-4Ts. It was one of the last locomotives to leave the famous Barry scrapyard as part of the ‘BarryTen’group acquired for the abortive Wales Railway Centre.
Since 2017 the Friends of 80150 group has been carrying out work to conserve the locomotive and make it moveable. This work included freeing the seized rear bogie and fitting springs salvaged from No. 75079. Members have been transforming it from a rusting hulk, painting, acquiring and manufacturing a host of components ready for when it can take its turn inside Ropley Works.
Rather than a blanket, generic appeal for‘x’thousands of pounds, the group’s approach has been one of bite-size chunks with targets for particular components, resulting in an impressive kit of parts to be assembled and fabricated for the loco’s restoration.