Pictured here at Alton station is an ex-Southern Railway V-class locomotive, designed by Richard Maunsell. The class is more commonly known as the ‘Schools’ class, as each engine was named after an English public school as part of a publicity campaign on the part of SR: children attending the public school in question would visit the engine due to be named after their school as part of a well-choreographed ceremony.

This particular engine, numbered 30925, was built and entered into service in 1934, and is named “Cheltenham” after Cheltenham College in Gloucestershire. Between its introduction to service and its withdrawal in December 1962, “Cheltenham” had clocked over 1.1 million miles, first running routes between London Waterloo and Portsmouth and Bournemouth, and then being moved around the southeast of England to places like Dover and Basingstoke. After its withdrawal it remained in storage for several decades, coming out only on a few occasions to pull heritage rail tours, before being overhauled in 2012 and bought by the National Railway Museum in York. The engine is currently on long-term loan to the Watercress Line in Hampshire.

Hope you enjoy!