arly in the morning in the sunshine of a late April day, a number of engines were gathered in the car park of King Edward Mine at Troon, in Cornwall. They were preparing to travel down into Camborne for the 2022 Trevithick Day. Smoke drifted from their chimneys and even at such an early hour the safety valves of some of the engines were lifting, eager to depart. To the side of the car park were a late middle-aged lady and a similar-aged man of smaller stature calmly going about the business of preparing their engine. A nearby onlooker was heard to say: “Not been seen in 42 years.” The engine was a Fowler, an early one judging by its compact appearance and high stance. The gloss green paintwork gleamed; the yellow and red lining crisp and precise; the brass and copper sparkled, looked immaculate. The engine took its place in the line-up of engines in Camborne and was admired, like the others, by thousands of people throughout the day. How many of those people realised that they were the first to be seeing the engine in over four decades, and that it
