Restored 1923 steam engine comes home to Black Country Living Museum
A 90-year-old steam locomotive which once ran on the tracks of the Earl of Dudley's mineral railway has been restored to its former glory.
The 26-ton Winston Churchill engine will greet thousands of visitors to Dudley's Black Country Living Museum after being given pride of place outside the entrance.
It is a long-awaited homecoming for the 1923 locomotive which has been on loan to London and Cambridge Properties for around 35 years.
The engine has been displayed at the Pensnett Trading Estate, near to the location of the railway line it was built to serve. But bosses last year decided it was time for the locomotive to return home.
And officials from development firm Lovell Partnership prepared the ground and plinth outside the museum's main entrance for the engine to be displayed.
The firm, which has built new homes nearby, said it was delighted to have taken part in the project. Its support was worth around £5,000 to the museum.
Museum director Andrew Lovett said: "It is great to have the locomotive back and placed where everyone will be able to see it.
"We have given it a fresh coat of paint so it is back to its former glory."
Mr Lovett said he was not sure why the locomotive had not been put on display when it was first donated to the museum back in the 1970s.
