How 1363 was preserved

When 1363 was withdrawn, she had only done 18,000 miles since her last overhaul. Her last official shed was Plymouth Laira and the staff there were enamoured somewhat with this little tank engine. She had had a dent in her bunker where she had had a ‘disagreement’ with a Hall Class locomotive a few years back but to them it must have just added character! At the time there were just two surviving GWR Swindon-built saddle tank locos. No. 1363 and her sister, No. 1365 which had been shedded in Bristol but unfortunately did not have long left. This fact had not gone unnoticed. No. 1363 had been stored out of use for quite a while. She was previously used as regular loco for the Plymouth Millbay Harbour area but now sat cold with an uncertain future.

The BR staff at Laira were ordered to clear the depot of any remaining steam locos by sending them for scrapping. These were mainly ‘County’ class engines (getting one of those too would have made our current job a bit easier!), which were formed into a long line with 1363 at the head. It looked like the end. One last trip... The staff of the shed, including the shed manager, had been making every effort to keep No. 1363 under their care. She was even being maintained by them in their spare time. They were desperately looking round for a bolt hole for her and they weren’t going to let her go that easily. Unbeknown to the crew that came to take her away, the shed staff had been busy the night before. At the suggestion of a man in the know, a few key items had been removed. These were a good few of the bolts that held the front buffer beam and coupling in place. No. 1363 was the last loco placed in the train. The diesel coupled up and went to pull away. The weight of the train of dead engines and the effort of the diesel did its terrible work. There was a sickening noise of tortured metal. The front buffer beam had been torn outwards and the coupling was so badly damaged that it was impossible to tow the engine. You can imagine the conversations. Oh dear, there, there, never mind. That looks unfit to travel... Once the train had gone, No. 1363 was quickly squirrelled away in a corner of the roundhouse. Where she stayed. For about a year!

While all this skulduggery was going on, 4 schoolboys had started a group to buy a 14XX Class locomotive and its accompanying auto trailer coach. This was of course the start of the Great Western Society. At the Society AGM of 1963, it was suggested that perhaps the society (who had not yet bought No. 1466 and coach No. 231) would be better served to lower its sights and try to get a smaller, cheaper locomotive first. The suggestion was made that No. 1363 - due to its unique history - would be a much better bet. Ultimately, as we know, that idea was turned down but it had planted the seed of an idea in the mind of the then Chairman Peter Lemar. He saw the need to preserve the locomotive and along with his brother-in-law, Alan Edwards (a senior MOD engineer) arranged to inspect the locomotive. Despite having to remove the ash from the last fire, the inspection showed that the locomotive was in generally excellent condition and with a little light metalwork (to the front buffer beam!), would make for a very sound prospect for preservation.   

Peter and his wife Joan set up a separate fund to buy the locomotive and were able to raise the money in a fairly short amount of time.  They actually ended up with offers of money that totalled almost twice the asking price of the locomotive. Therefore the locomotive was purchased and became a preserved engine. The purchase had been done privately so Peter was technically the legal owner. There were a few people that had been involved in the purchase so Peter and Joan gave them a number of choices as to how to proceed with her preservation, including the backers keeping the engine themselves. The overwhelming result of this ballot was to donate No. 1363 to become part of the Great Western Society collection and as such she became just the second item of rolling stock owned by the Society, shortly after No. 1466 had be purchased.

When you hear how close to destruction this engine was on several occasions, you realise just how lucky we are to have her. You also realise what a lottery preservation is and that it was often a confluence of unlikely events that resulted in a piece of rolling stock being saved. We have a lot to thank the early pioneers of steam preservation like Peter and Joan Lemar and those guys all those years ago at Laira who were so determined to save their shed pet! Peter was instrumental in preserving a number of the vehicles in the collection and purchased some of them himself. It is really a tribute to people like him and all the other GWS trailblazers that the collection at Didcot is so wonderfully diverse and interesting. Although Peter passed away a few years ago, when we steam No. 1363 again after her overhaul, we will no doubt pause to remember him and all the others that did so much to ensure that this fascinating little engine was passed down to future generations.

« Back To 1363 - 1361 Class