One of the Island’s most well-known Diesel locomotives from the post-steam era is set to return home after an absence of twenty-seven years and a full restoration.
The Class 03 shunter was built at British Rail’s Swindon works in 1962 and worked on the mainland until 1987.
While some new rolling stock was built to commence Island railway operations in the 19th century, ever since then the Island has operated using mainland rolling stock handed down. Often these were of types being withdrawn from mainland use as time expired; a practice that continues to this day with the current ‘new refurbished’ Island Line trains.
03 179 was one of a pair of the class that survived withdrawal of the class by British Rail in 1987 by being transferred to the Isle of Wight to haul engineering trains.
She was uniquely painted into the now iconic Network SouthEast livery of red, white and blue and remained at work on the Island for ten years before being sold and leaving the Island in 1998.
The locomotive continued to earn its keep with private mainline operators until finally withdrawn and disposed of in 2016. It was the last class 03 in national railway service and required a full overhaul.
03 179 was bought by Andy West, Dale West and Andy Ashton in 2017. Over the following eight years the locomotive has been fully restored to her Network SouthEast condition at their base in Rushden, Northants, with the aim of returning her to the Isle of Wight where she could join the Isle of Wight Steam Railway’s collection of Island rolling stock providing an additional diesel locomotive for shunting and occasional passenger carrying trains.
With a partnership agreement concluded between the restorers/owners and the IW Steam Railway, the time has now come for 03 179 to return to the Island’s rails, resplendent in full Island era Network SouthEast livery, for an initial 10-year period.
Marc Morgan Huws, Chief Executive at the IW Steam Railway said, “The two Andys and Dale have undertaken a superb restoration of the locomotive, and their dedication is a testament to the allure of our railway heritage. We’re delighted to be able to work with them to provide a home for 03 179 where she both fills an important gap in our collection but also provides us with a much-needed diesel locomotive to help mitigate against the potential to have to operate diesel rather than steam trains in hot and dry spells.”
Andy West says, “to be able to return 03 179 to The Isle of Wight in its iconic livery is something we discussed back in 2017, nine years later that discussion is about to become reality.
Our partnership with the IW Steam Railway will see that 03 179 lives in the best possible place for its long-term future. We are so excited to be able to finally see the many hours of work come to reality and watch 03 179 be enjoyed by others while helping to tell the story of the Island’s railway history.
03 179 has a long and unique history with many highlights and we want to thank the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, Rushden Historical Transport Society and everyone that has helped in anyway during the last nine years in making the restoration possible.”
03 179 will be making the journey home to the Island during October, crossing the Solent with our friends and sponsors ‘Wightlink’, before appearing in service at the Railway’s Island Loco Gala and Festive Ales Festival, in partnership with SWR’s Island Line, over the weekend of 29/30 November. The Gala will feature Island locomotives in service including 03 179, the equally well-known Island diesel D2554 / 05 001 ‘Nuclear Fred’, Terrier W8 Freshwater and Adams O2 W24 Calbourne providing a variety of services and brake van rides across the weekend.
