About The 2857 Society
The Society has made remarkable progress since 1971, when it was first founded as the 28xx Society with the aim of preserving GWR 2-8-0 No.2857. Since then, we have gone on to bring multiple items of rolling stock into preservation, details of which can be found on our preservation section.
Today we are a highly motivated team with many different skills and occupational backgrounds. We are always aiming to build on our successes and welcome new members and ideas to our team to assist either financially or in the engineering work.
During the last period of operation between 2011 and 2023, The Society’s role was to keep a general eye on the operation of the locomotive and assist with maintenance from time-to-time. Since withdrawal from traffic, The Society has now begun to consider options for 2857’s return to steam.
2857 seen on the River Usk bridge at Newport with the SVR goods train on 10th September 1985.
Photo Simon Marshall
Membership
Membership of The 2857 Society is open to all, the only requirements are that you pay the annual membership fee of £20 and also purchase a minimum of 10 £1 shares in the Society.
Members receive a copy of “28 Lines”, the Society’s illustrated magazine, twice a year. An application form and gift aid form can be found in the Membership section of this website.
Brief History of 2857
The prototype of this locomotive was built at Swindon Works in 1903. Locomotives of this general design, the 28xx class, continued to be produced until 1942 and hauled most of the long distance heavy goods trains on the GWR and BR (W.R.) for sixty years.
No. 2857 was built in 1918 and travelled 1,276,713 miles, before withdrawal in 1963 and subsequent sale for scrap to Woodham Brothers at Barry Dock in South Wales.
The 28xx Fund was founded by four young enthusiasts who hoped to be able to preserve a GWR 2-8-0 tender locomotive in working order. Although 2818 was in the National Collection as a static exhibit there were no schemes to preserve an operational 28xx. In 1974 when the Society, adopted a formal Constitution, was renamed the 2857 Society (on 1 May 1974) and became a membership society charging an annual subscription.
The Society was able to purchase the loco on 20 May 1974 for £5,250. Following her purchase 2857 was moved by rail to the SVR in August 1975. After an extensive overhaul, 2857 returned to traffic in 1985, famously hauling the last steam-hauled loose coupled goods train on the national network to Newport. 2857 entered regular passenger service on the SVR, and went on to clock up a further 41,000 miles before expiry of her 10-year boiler certificate in March 1995.
Starting in 1995 the ‘2857 Society’ worked on her overhaul. A new tender body was commissioned, a new smokebox door was manufactured, and a new cab has been made on site at Bewdley. Many other new items were manufactured, including a chimney.
From 2004 the Society volunteers started work on the overhaul of the boiler under the guidance of the SVR. The work undertaken was quite phenomenal for a bunch of inexperienced volunteers. The work culminated in a return to steam in 2011 and 2857 has been gaining an enviable reputation for reliability ever since!
In the three years 2013 to 2015 the loco had an annual mileage in excess of 10,000. 2018 saw not only the centenary of 2857’s construction but also her passing the milestone of 100,000 miles in preservation.
In 2018 and 2019 2857’s mileage was 8,209 and 8,605 respectively placing her second in the SVR mileage charts in each year. This was a very creditable performance in the latter half of her boiler certificate. 2857 was used on the reopening train from Kidderminster on 1 August 2020 following the SVR’s enforced shutdown during the Covid 19 pandemic and has been used regularly since.
In 2020 the members of the Society approved a proposal from the Committee that the Society become a Charitable Community Benefit Society. On 21 July 2020 the Financial Conduct Authority registered The 2857 Society as a Charitable Community Benefit Society (number 8422).
Photo credit: David Cable
Photo credit: David Cable
2021 was the 50th Anniversary of the formation of the Society in 1971. In September 2021 2857 was taken out of service for a valve and piston examination and re-entered traffic in 2022. 2857 has been a regular performer on the SVR in 2022 and visited both the Mid Hants Railway and the West Somerset Railway to attend their respective Spring Galas.
2857’s boiler certificate was due to expire in July 2022. However, the SVR’s insurer extended that certificate and it gave a further 6 months of operation until January 2023. 2857’s last day in service under the current boiler certificate was Monday 2nd January 2023, when she hauled a 10 coach train for 2 round trips of the line formed of Great Western coaches. 100 members and friends of The Society travelled aboard the train, on ‘The Severn Valley Limited’ dining train.
