TWO stalwartperformersonthe SevernValley Railway have been withdrawn from traffic after a decade of sterling service.
The boiler tickets of GWR Churchward 2-8-0 No. 2857 and Hawksworth WR 0-6-0PT expired after they pulled their last trains at the beginning of the new year.
Built in Swindon in 1918, No. 2857 was among the first batch of 28XXs, the first of which appeared in 1903. Production continued up to 1942, the class eventually totalling 167.
For more than 60 years they hauled long-distance heavy freight trains on the GWR and into BR days.
During its life on
