In the world of the steam locomotive, almost nothing goes unrecorded. Whether you’re talking engines and rolling stock, or something more offbeat such as cast-iron fireplaces bearing old railway company insignia, somebody, somewhere has almost certainly logged and listed it. There is little we don’t know.
The revelation, though, that in the autumn of 2015, steam locomotives withdrawn from service almost 50 years ago still languish in a UK scrapyard will probably surprise, if not astound, most readers.
But the pictures on these pages, taken in mid-October and exclusive to Steam Railway, are the living proof that fully 25 years after the last engine (‘Prairie’ tank No. 5553) left Dai Woodham’s Barry scrapyard, they are still there.
Four engines, all Barclay 0-4-0 saddle tanks that last worked in the collieries…
