GWR pannier tank No. 5775 – which acquired world fame in fictitious Great North & South Railway ochre livery as one of the steam stars of the 1970 movie blockbuster version of Edith A Nesbit’s children’s classicThe Railway Children – is being overhauled after nearly a quarter of a century out of action.
In the film, No. 5775 hauled the Old Gentleman’s Saloon that famously ground to a halt as the character Bobby, played by actress Jenny Agutter, attracted the driver’s attention to a landslip blocking the line.
Nicholas Hellewell, a senior steam driver at
