Wensleydale hosts Teesside rarities

Sam Hewitt

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31st October 2016

OR shunter fans, the Wensleydale Railway was the place to be on September 25, with a very rare public appearance of the two Class 08s owned by Sembcorp Utilities, Nos. 08743 Bryan Turner and 08903 John W Antill.

Specially shipped in from Sembcorp Utilities’ Wilton International plant on Teesside, No. 08903 heads a very rare passenger working on the Wensleydale Railway at Redmire on September 25. Its stablemate No. 08743 had left the train at this point to clear various sidings to allow the BLS/PLEG tour to work over them. David Russell

Originally purchased by ICI in 1996, the two locos have spent the past 20 years in industrial use on Teesside, passing through the hands of Enron to today’s current owner. Based at Wilton since 2004, the pair have not seen action for a number of years, being locked out of sight in a shed.

Read more in November’s issue of RE

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