Austerity 0-6-0 ST WPR No.15

WPR No. 15 was built as an Austerity tank engine by Andrew Barclay in 1945 for the Ministry of Defence. In 1964 it was sold to Wemyss Private Railway (WPR), a private estate of tracks linking local coal and mineral mines in Fife to the ports of Leven and Methil. When the WPR closed in 1970, the engine as sold for scrap to T Muir’s scrap in Kirkcaldy, where it remained rusting away until bought in 2003 for preservation.

The loco first ran again in December 2007 at Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway (GWSR) and in 2008 was named ‘Earl David’ in honour of the current Earl of Wemyss.

No.15 subsequently spent a few years at the East Lancashire Railway and Avon Valley Railway, until 2016 when it was moved to Sharpness for overhaul. The boiler has been lifted and sent away for assessment and repairs.