Many of you may have found through reading in the press that the only surviving LBSCR E1 class has moved from it’s old home on the East Somerset Railway to Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.  The deal involved swapping Ivatt 2MT 46447 2-6-0 in exchange for the E1 class.

Substantially larger than the better-known A1X terrier class, the E1 class was a product of Stroudley and were designed as a short distance goods locomotive.  This particular locomotive was built in 1877 and was absorbed into Soutern Railway at grouping.  Interestingly, despite its current livery; the locomotive was never a British Railways machine and was sold by Southern Railway to the Cannock and Rugeley Colliery Company in 1927.

Other locomotives of this class found their way onto the Isle of Wight and it is planned that this locomotive will be restored to represent one of these – number W2 Yarmouth.

Before work begins on assessing the locomotive for overhaul , I was fortunate to get a brief look at it at Havenstreet on Saturday 17th November.  Let’s hope that it’s overhaul is successful and we get to see this attractive locomotive running in steam again in the future.