80080

FRIDAY

A spontaneous trip over the hills to the East Lancashire Railway where, unusually, locos were operating on a weekday in term time. I guess they were getting them ready for this weekend's Chocolate Festival timetable.

This is the recently overhauled 80080 which was built in 1954 and scrapped in the mid-1960s. It remained in a scrapyard for 14 years where it was at the mercy of the weather, metal thieves, and later preservationists removing parts.


It was restored and returned to steam in 1984 and has just re-entered service again following a major overhaul.