Southwold Railway 2-4-0T No. 3 'Blyth'
Southwold, Suffolk, UK 		Location: Southwold Railway Trust’s Steamworks site
Status: Operational
Posted: Apr 8, 2022 @ 10:04:42 by Russell Newman
The new build replica 3ft gauge Southwold Railway 2-4-0T No. 3 "Blyth" has now arrived at its new home at the Southwold Railway Trust’s Steamworks site at Southwold in Suffolk, where she will have a formal launch into service before her public debut from the 17th to 24th of Aril 2022. The locomotive will operate on a 80-yard section of 3ft gauge track there.
Posted: Mar 20, 2022 @ 07:03:05 by Russell Newman
The new build replica 3ft gauge Southwold Railway 2-4-0T No. 3 "Blyth" was successfully steamed for the very first time and even ran on a set of rollers too. The locomotive is now complete and operational and will soon be moving to the Southwold Railway Trust’s Steamworks site at Southwold in Suffolk where it will enter service on their short section of 3ft gauge running line there.
Posted: Nov 19, 2021 @ 14:11:10 by Russell Newman
The construction of replica 3ft gauge Southwold Railway 2-4-0T No. 3 "Blyth" has now been completed and the new build locomotive is now ready to be steamed for the very first time and will soon be moved to the Southwold Railway Trust’s Steamworks site for testing before entering service there next year in 2022.
Posted: Sep 19, 2021 @ 09:09:12 by Russell Newman
With the replica of 3ft gauge Southwold Railway 2-4-0T No. 3 "Blyth" is now in its final stages of construction the locomotive will soon be steam tested at North bay Engineering Services before moving to Southwold. The orginal "Blyth" No. 3 was built in 1879 by Sharp, Stewart & Co. Ltd in Manchester and was one of three 2-4-0T locomotives built for the railway and it ran for 50 years right up until the line closed in 1929 and was scrapped the same year. They were 3ft narrow gauge railways in the UK mainly in industrial places but the Southwold Railway was the only 3ft Narrow Gauge line that carried both passenger and goods in the UK. The line ran from the Suffolk seaside resort of Southwold to the Great Eastern main line at Halesworth 8¾ miles inland. Opened in 1879, it gently wound its way towards the sea through the beautiful valley of the River Blyth, with intermediate stations at Wenhaston, Blythburgh and Walberswick. After almost 50 years the line closed suddenly in April 1929. The Southwold Railway Trust are aiming to restore a part of the Southwold Railway as there are plans to a section of it from Blyth Road to Southwold Harbour along the old track bed which is still there. There is also another group at Halesworth known as the Halesworth to Southwold Narrow Gauge Railway Society aiming to restore that section of the Southwold Railway at the Halesworth end and have alreay started to lay 3ft gauge track. Its possible that the replica No. 3 "Blyth" could visit that part of the Southwold Railway in the future.
Posted: Sep 12, 2021 @ 05:09:31 by Steve Frost, European Editor
The recently uploaded photo is of the original "Blyth" which was scrapped long ago, so this gives you an indication of what is being built at the moment, but it is not the new one!
Posted: Sep 6, 2021 @ 05:09:32 by Russell Newman
The replica 3ft gauge Southwold Railway 2-4-0T No. 3 "Blyth" is now in its final stages of construction which is is now nearly completed which the locomotive will soon be moved to its new home at the Southwold Railway Trust’s Steamworks site at Blyth Road in Southwold in Suffolk. Where it will run on a short 3ft gauge track there and there are also plans to take the locomotive for a visit to the Isle of Man for extended running on the Isle of Man Railway next year.
Posted: Nov 27, 2020 @ 14:11:32 by Russell Newman
A big milestone in the construction of the replica 3ft gauge Southwold Railway 2-4-0T No. 3 "Blyth" as the new built boiler has been fitted to the mainframes of the locomotive.
Posted: Nov 25, 2019 @ 10:11:46 by Steve Frost
The basic frame of this replica of the original Sharp Stewart 2-4-0T has been completed in Darlington. The boiler for the loco was completed earlier in 2019 and a fabricated cylinder has also been made. The loco is being built for the Southwold Railway Trust