Good evening,

Before I left Yorkshire I made a special trip to the KWVR once again for a quick ride of the line with my daughter. We arrived at Keighley only minutes before the train was due to depart the station which meant we had no idea what locomotive traction we had. Upon reaching Oxenhope we discovered that it was United States of America Transportation Corp. Class S160 5820.

5280 is a well travelled locomotive, she was built in 1945 by Lima of Ohio in the United States for the US Army to aid the war effort in Europe and shipped directly to Poland. After the war the locomotive was taken into stock by Poland State Railways and re-numbered TR203-474. The engine remained in Poland until withdrawal for preservation by the Polish Railway Museum in Warsaw.

Purchased by the KWVR, 5820 finally arrived at Haworth in November 1977 and entered service on the Worth Valley in the following year still carrying the Polish livery. During this time the engine was re-liveried to USATC grey and chosen to appear in the feature film “Yanks”, filmed on location in Keighley. Following withdrawal at the expiration of its boiler certificate, the engine was laid aside until a lengthy restoration was undertaken and returned to service in February 2014.

5280 sounded great travelling through the Yorkshire valleys, my flying visit to the KWVR meant I didnt really get the chance to explore the railway so another visit will be needed one day.

Thanks for reading