By Justin Franz 

Almost six decades after the last of its kind was scrapped, a newly-built Great Western Railway 4-6-0 is being prepared for service in the United Kingdom. The locomotive, 6880 Betton Grange, is one of at least a dozen standard gauge steam locomotives being built in the United Kingdom at this time. 

The United Kingdom has long been home to a robust steam preservation movement, with dozens of locomotives restored to service. But the Brits weren’t content to just restore the locomotives that survived after the steam era came to a close in the 1960s. In the 1990s, they set out to start building locomotives that had been scrapped. The most famous example is London & North Eastern Railway Peppercorn Class A1 4-6-2 60163 Tornado, which was completed in 2008. The success of that effort has since inspired others, including here in the United States where the non-profit T1 Trust is currently building a Pennsylvania Railroad 4-4-4-4. 

The GWR’s Grange Class was built in the 1930s for mixed traffic. As the steam era came to a close in the 1960s, all 80 4-6-0s were taken out of service and scrapped. In 1998, the Betton Grange Society was established to build what it called “the 81st Grange.” After 25 years of work, the build is entering its final stages at the Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham. As of this month, the locomotive is being painted and test runs are expected in the coming weeks. 

A recent issue of Heritage Railway listed a dozen different standard gauge steam locomotive builds across the country. Among them is an effort by the A1 Trust — the same group that built Tornado — to build a P2 2-8-2, the most powerful express passenger locomotive ever built in Britain. Efforts are also underway to build a 0-4-4T, a 2-6-2T, a 2-2-2, and a 2-4-2T, as well as additional 4-6-0s and 4-6-2s. 

For more information about Betton Grange, visit www.6880.co.uk.