Railways connect us is so many ways.
Back in 2018, when life was a lot less tense and we spent all summer visiting railways and exhibitions, one of the exhibitions that we visited was The Bristol Model Engineering Show. And one of the photos that we came back with was this 5” BR Class 08 Shunter, mounted on PNP chairs.
As lockdown continued and show after show was canceled and nothing was running we published images looking back on previous visits and re-published the above image.
We were delighted to get a response to the post from someone who had acquired this little locomotive and had it overhauled and repainted. It now boasted a new number and new colours, chosen to replicate an 08 to which the new owner had a connection.
As a 5-year-old he used to visit his granddad who worked at North Gawber Colliery, Yorkshire. On one particular visit, he had his photo taken in front of the original 08 which inspired his later choice to acquire and re-number this example. She now runs on PNP sleepers and chairs on the Wansford Miniature Railway on the Nene Valley Railway. We think that is a great story. We hope that you do too.
