Swindon and Cricklade Railway is celebrating after successfully restoring a historic steam locomotive.
Volunteers from the railway’s steam locomotive department have been hard at work restoring 6695, an 0-6-2 tank engine.
Number 6695 is a member of the 66xx class and was one of the 49 examples to be built at Armstrong Whitworth of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1928.
It was withdrawn from service in 1964.
The remaining locomotives were built at Swindon in 1927.
In 2019, the locomotive moved to the Swindon and Cricklade Railway in Blunsdon.
The railway has been without a steam locomotive this year since Swordfish left the line for the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
It is hoped that visitor numbers will increase as the railway has seen a decline this year.
On September 16, 6695 moved under its own power for the first time in over seven years, following a successful boiler test.
Over the coming weeks, the engine will have its finishing touches before it returns to traffic.
Loaded test runs are pencilled in for this weekend and the public is being invited to watch the engine in action and ride behind the locomotive at selected intervals.
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