ONE hundred not out - and still going strong - is a small but powerful steam engine on Severn Valley Railway.
The century of the former Port Talbot Railway 0-6-0 saddletank No 813 was celebrated with a birthday cake, a slice of which was fed - on the fireman's shovel - into the firebox, in line with tradition. Elizabeth Lilley, who helped raise restoration funds for the train with birthday cake.
The engine got a new lease of life with SVR last year, when it was pressed into service to haul passenger carriages for the first time.
It had originally been built to shunt colliery coal wagons in South Wales and was thought to be too lightweight for passenger carrying duties.
It proved otherwise when a rash of boiler failures among SVR's steam engines led to it being tried out and it came through with flying colours.
To celebrate the centenary, No 813 had four round trips between Kidderminster and Bewdley, hauling three of the railway's classic vintage GWR coaches.
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