Scandinavian locomotive found in Suffolk

[John Luxton]

This article appeared on the Devon Live web site today. I imagine it will do the rounds of most other Reach plc newspapers in due course. Of course the newspaper has to bring in a Harry Potter element!

It would appear to be an abandoned preservation project and is located somewhere in Suffolk.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/uk-world-news/ghostly-harry-potter-train-found-7712125

An eerie 'Harry-Potter-style train' has been discovered, mysteriously abandoned in thick woodland. The rusting old steam engine, covered in cobwebs, is almost hidden in its secret location, deep in the heart of the Suffolk countryside.

It bears a striking resemblance to JK Rowling’s fictional Hogwarts Express. In the Harry Potter books, the train transports pupils to the wizard school from Kings Cross station's platform 9 3/4.

Urban explorer Steve Liddiard tracked it down after hearing rumours of a mysterious 'Harry Potter-style' engine deep in the woods The 36-year-old from Swansea eventually located the amazing vehicle completely hidden behind overgrowth.

And he's declared it one of his best finds.....

 

[Cowley]

Is that one of the ones bought for possible use on the Epping and Ongar railway? I seem to remember that there was talk of regauging it at some point in the early preservation days with a few ex Polish or Finnish locomotives appearing on these shores.

I may have got that completely wrong obviously!

 

[Adlington]

The Mirror, a universally acknowledged source of reliable railway-related information, reports:

A long abandoned steam train reclaimed by nature has been found deep in the Suffolk countryside. Urban explorer Steve Liddiard tracked the locomotive down after hearing rumours of a mysterious Harry Potter-style engine hidden in the woods.

After scouring maps and carrying out research including listening to people’s tales he finally tracked it down and found it covered in brambles and thorns. Steve has decided to keep its location a secret so vandals do not find it.

The train was built by a Scandinavian company around 1950. It was built to withstand the brutal Finnish winters, but now sits alone on this abandoned piece of track and the elements have corroded it. Despite its last journey being several decades ago, the train still smells of smoke.

Another great train mystery or a hoax??

 

[JB_B]

Just googling ...

Finnish steam loco suffolk

... is enough to suggest that there's probably no great mystery.

Finnish steam locomotives in England

Finland had lots of steam locomotives storaged after finnish state railways ended using steam locomotives at 1975. Late 80s and early 90s storages were abolished. Most of locomotives were scrapped, some of them were given or sold to museums, but some of them were sold to UK. They leaved from Finl...

www.rmweb.co.uk

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Daily Mail article from 2016... Includes a fair number of photos.

Magical mystery of real-life Hogwarts Express...and how it got there

Bearing a striking resemblance to the Harry Potter train, it appears as though it has magically materialised between the thriving trees on the Essex and Suffolk border.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Extract...

Like a real-life Hogwarts Express': Mystery of the Finnish steam train that had its final stop in the middle of an Essex wood​

Also previously discussed on here in 2015... Mystery location might possibly be Sudbury!

Scrapped Locomotive in Sudbury

Hello Readers, I found a scrapped locomotive the other day near Sudbury in Suffolk. The locomotive is surrounded by shrubs and trees and was fenced off with barbed wire. The locomotive's number is 1077 and of a (as far as I could see) 2-8-2 wheel arrangement. It is also fitted with smoke...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[John Luxton]

Interesting I didn't realise this had been discussed before - or perhaps I just forgot about it and don't recall earlier postings.

Just checking back I note that I replied to the post as someone had suggested it was bound for Dobwalls, Cornwall and I pointed out Dobwalls was a miniature line.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Interesting I didn't realise this had been discussed before - or perhaps I just forgot about it and don't recall earlier postings.

Perhaps someone will rediscover the loco again in another 6 - 7 years' time. It certainly doesn't seem to be going anywhere! Wonder just how long it's been there?!

 

[Gloster]

VR Tr1 1077 was built in 1953 by Jung and was one of around a dozen locos brought over to England in 1990. Quite why has never been clear, although I think they first ended up in Essex.

 

[Purple Train]

I'm surprised none of the newspapers have noticed the location in Suffolk and made an amateurish (and horrible) joke and labelled the site "Sutton choo-choo", especially given the general uneducated perspective of steam engines (e.g. Harry Potter references)

It really does annoy me, though the tale of how it got there would definitely be one I'd want to hear.

 

[Ediswan]

Finnish steam loco suffolk

... is enough to suggest that there's probably no great mystery.

Finnish steam locomotives in England

Finland had lots of steam locomotives storaged after finnish state railways ended using steam locomotives at 1975. Late 80s and early 90s storages were abolished. Most of locomotives were scrapped, some of them were given or sold to museums, but some of them were sold to UK. They leaved from Finl...

www.rmweb.co.uk

Following the breadcrumbs to Sudbury, maybe this: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.0762811,0.7490729,50m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

[Sm5]

VR Tr1 1077 was built in 1953 by Jung and was one of around a dozen locos brought over to England in 1990. Quite why has never been clear, although I think they first ended up in Essex.

Wasnt it for a theme park that fell through ?
A couple have been restored, though not really anywhere to run.

 

[Gloster]

Wasnt it for a theme park that fell through ?
A couple have been restored, though not really anywhere to run.

My vague recollection is that there were various ideas for the locos’ use, but they were a very mixed bag of a dozen, which would be a lot for a single theme park. There were suggestions that it might have been a speculative purchase, possibly with the intention of selling them on. They were, I think, all in running or near-running condition, but one very unconfirmed suggestion was that they might become plinthed ‘play locos’. However, suggestions that the importer hadn’t realised that Finland has a different gauge to the UK probably aren’t true.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Who owns it?

 

[Gloster]

Who owns it?

I am not sure if anybody knows.

 

[D Williams]

One of these went to a "wild west" theme park in Cornwall. There was a plan to build a five foot gauge railroad. I had a look at it thirty years ago. It had come from the Finnish strategic reserve, was ready for use, heavily greased for protection ( complete with asbestos insulation) and provided with a full set of firing tools, oil cans and hand tools and you could stand in the cab and imagine rolling across the prairies. Apparently the design was by Baldwin but adjusted by the Finns to their track gauge. It is possible that someone thought they could be converted to standard gauge but I couldn't see any easy way of achieving this as they were not built as "convertibles". In fact even if it were possible to achieve the track gauge there was no chance of getting inside the UK load gauge due to the construction of the cylinders.

The theme park never really took off and the loco went to a reclamation yard in mid-Cornwall as a gate guardian. This too has now closed so the loco may have been cut up by now.

 

[Sulzer:1999]

One of these imported Finnish locos was returned to working order & is run on a short section of Finnish gauge track in the owner’s big garden. I believe this is near London somewhere & the owner is involved in some other railway projects.
There was an article about this in one of the comics a few years ago. He may have a standard gauge industrial working at the same site, obviously on a different track.

 

[alexl92]

Is this a man who also used to own a mainline steam loco until fairly recently?

 

[stuu]

Is this the one that used to sit outside a timber merchant in Enfield or thereabouts?

 

[Sulzer:1999]

Is this a man who also used to own a mainline steam loco until fairly recently?

Not sure, but there was no doubt that the gentleman had been a successful businessman.

 

[D6968]

One of these imported Finnish locos was returned to working order & is run on a short section of Finnish gauge track in the owner’s big garden. I believe this is near London somewhere & the owner is involved in some other railway projects.
There was an article about this in one of the comics a few years ago. He may have a standard gauge industrial working at the same site, obviously on a different track.

David Buck, who was former chairman of Steam Dreams, and was owner of 61306.
I believe he also owns several other smaller locomotives.

 

[Sulzer:1999]

David Buck, who was former chairman of Steam Dreams, and was owner of 61306.
I believe he also owns several other smaller locomotives.

Thanks, that makes sense. What never made sense was importing these locos here in the first place.

 

[D6968]

Thanks, that makes sense. What never made sense was importing these locos here in the first place.

Maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time?

 

[Sulzer:1999]

Whilst I can see the attraction of acquiring reasonably complete locomotives as opposed to some wrecks from Woodham’s in Barry, the Finnish gauge would always be a problem. Apart from track, need to obtain suitable coaches, etc.
I’m sure that there would have been plenty of decent standard gauge locos available in other European countries at the time, DDR, etc. Indeed there is a preserved railway in the Netherlands which operates a loco acquired from the Swedish strategic reserve (the last three locos from that were only finally preserved 12 years ago.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

IIRC one of the plans for the batch were to run on the closed Epping to Ongar section of the Central Line. The plan was to rebuild it to Finnish gauge.

 

[Sulzer:1999]

Yes, I remember that now. But there was also plans to run ‘The Flying Scotsman’ there. I seem to recall when asked by one of the railway magazines about how the loco would deal with a structure built to LT loading gauge, the spokesperson stated that they would fit a hinge to the loco’s funnel & it would pass under no problem. Says it all really.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I realise that it's a different Scandanavian country, but this month's "Nostalgia Corner" in the RCTS's Railway Observer has what might be a connected article.

It reports that "the Steam Power Trust '65 has bought Danish State Railway 0-4-4T No. 385 (Hartmann, 2110/95). The locomotive was brought to Grimsby on the MS Surrey and taken to the Middleton Railway. 385 was originally earmarked for the proposed Danish Railway Museum."

Although I can't trace the Steam Power Trust '65, the Middleton Railway's web site says that the loco is still there, "On display, but not operational". The "proposed Danish Railway Museum" did happen and can be found in Odense - it looks quite good.