Plans on track for steam loco at museum

An 89-year-old steam locomotive which once ran on the tracks of the Earl of Dudley's mineral railway could soon be greeting visitors to the Black Country.

The 26-ton Winston Churchill engine would take pride of place outside Dudley's Black Country Living Museum, under plans being discussed by management.

It was donated to the museum in the 1970s but has been on loan to development company London and Cambridge Properties ever since.

The 1923 locomotive is positioned on the Pensnett Trading Estate at the point close to the location of the railway line it was built to serve.

The line was operated by Pensnett Mineral Railway Company which ran from Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Ashwood, serving various collieries and factories including Round Oak steel works.

But museum bosses have now revealed they are considering relocating the engine at the site off Tipton Road and have been awarded planning permission by Dudley Council.

It is hoped it will be positioned on the piazza outside the museum's entrance building, where the Titanic anchor had previously been displayed.

Black Country Living Museum spokeswoman Fiona Carding said bosses were "exploring the possibility" of returning the Winston Churchill steam locomotive engine to the museum.

It measures almost 25ft long and is around 11ft tall.