THE overhaul of LSWR 4-4-0 T3 No. 563 has dominated the headlines somewhat in recent months as its first steaming since 1945 draws ever closer thanks to the sterling efforts of Swanage Railway volunteers and Flour Mill contractors. However, while the limelight has been on this veteran, over at Ropley on the Mid-Hants Railway, another LSWR locomotive is progressively making its way through the works, while another is in regular service – step forward the Urie Locomotive Society and its two S15 4-6-0 examples, Nos. 499 and 506. Built at Eastleigh in 1920, No. 499 is the oldest surviving example of the S15 class and is just one of two that remain of the Urie design era. From 1927, Maunsell made modifications to his predecessor’s locomotive that saw the boiler pressure increased and cylinder bore reduced by half an inch, amid many other alterations.
Both Nos. 499 and 506 entered service at Nine Elms before moving to Feltham in 1940 to work the new marshalling yard there. Interestingly, a year later No. 499 was commandeered, along with Nos. 496-498, to help on the Great Western Railway with the increased freight traffic there. They remained
with the rival company through much of the war, none being returned
