AS the target date of spring 2028 for a welcome return to the West Somerset Railway (WSR) draws closer, work has been stepped up on the major overhaul of ex-GWR small prairie tank engine 4561 owned by the West Somerset Railway Association (WSRA).

The latest round of progress involved a new throatplate - connecting the boiler to the firebox - which has been made for 4561 in the South Devon Railway workshops in Buckfastleigh.

A WSRA spokesperson said: “It comes as a sharp reminder of the costs of steam locomotive overhauls that the new throatplate is £19,875 plus VAT, and the cost of taking it to Riley and Son, at Bury, where the work on rebuilding the boiler is being carried out.

“New tanks for 4561 are being made by a volunteer team at Minehead.

“The team working on the tanks are using copies of the original engineering drawings used at Swindon in 1924 when the smallprairie was first constructed.

“Work is also continuing on driving wheel eccentrics which are being machined and fitted in the workshops at Williton.”

After leaving the Swindon workshops, 4561 first worked in the West Midlands and South East Wales before moving to the Westcountry in 1930.

Small prairies were regular performers on the Taunton to Minehead line until displaced by diesels in the early 1960s.

After 4561 was withdrawn from service it ended up in the ‘locomotive graveyard’ in Barry, South Wales, before being bought by the WSRA and restored in 1989.

Donations toward the cost of the overhaul of 4561 can be made online via the association’s website.

Cheques can also be sent to West Somerset Railway Association (4561), The Railway Station, Bishops Lydeard.

WSRA volunteers have been supporting the WSR with all forms of activity since 1971.