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Description
British Railways standard 4MT mixed-traffic tank engine No. 80064 was built by Brighton Works in 1953, and was the last steam locomotive ever built by the former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) locomotive works. It was assigned to several depots during its relatively short career: Watford, Dover, Ashford, Tonbridge, Exmouth, and finally Bristol Barrow Road. No. 80064 was retired in 1965 and sent to the Woodham Brothers' scrapyard in Barry, Wales, from which it was saved and taken to the Dart Valley Railway, where it was restored in 1981. It was transferred to the Bluebell Railway in 1984, and has spent the last three decades in and out of traffic. When I visited in August, the tank engine was coupled to a Pullman coach at Sheffield Park Station while awaiting an overhaul that will put it back in steam. If this succeeds, then the Bluebell Railway will be able to run a locomotive used during the Sussex branch line's final years in revenue service.

Description
British Railways standard 4MT mixed-traffic tank engine No. 80064 was built by Brighton Works in 1953, and was the last steam locomotive ever built by the former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) locomotive works. It was assigned to several depots during its relatively short career: Watford, Dover, Ashford, Tonbridge, Exmouth, and finally Bristol Barrow Road. No. 80064 was retired in 1965 and sent to the Woodham Brothers' scrapyard in Barry, Wales, from which it was saved and taken to the Dart Valley Railway, where it was restored in 1981. It was transferred to the Bluebell Railway in 1984, and has spent the last three decades in and out of traffic. When I visited in August, the tank engine was coupled to a Pullman coach at Sheffield Park Station while awaiting an overhaul that will put it back in steam. If this succeeds, then the Bluebell Railway will be able to run a locomotive used during the Sussex branch line's final years in revenue service.