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Description
With the beginnings of the modern railway finding it's roots in the Manchester area, many of the oldest railway works in the UK are to be found in the north west of England. Many have now closed and disappeared from existence, but some remain, and a few of these remain open for service.

Of the local works in Manchester, two stood out from the crowd. The Vulcan Foundry, Newton Le Willows, and Horwich Loco Works, Bolton. Horwich was built in 1886 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway as a new central assembly and maintenance hub for a newly extended network. Continuing through until the early 1980s, the works was responsible for the construction of many successful designs of locomotive including Aspinall 2.4.2Ts, Stanier 5MT 4.6.0s, and some of the BR Standard 4MT 2.6.0s, including this one, 76084.

76084 was completed in 1957 and outshopped to Lower Darwen shed near Blackburn, where she started a move around most of the sheds in the north west supposedly as a training vehicle for drivers from different depots to assist thm in getting used to the engines characteristics. before returning to Lower Darwen once again. As time passed, BR began to shrink down the amount of heavy engineering bases on the railways across the country, and 76084 moved to Sutton Oak in 1965, before returning to Wigan Springs Branch in 1966. By then, the steam era was ending, and as more and more diesel locos arrived to take over services, 76084 was withdrawn in 1967, and sent to Woodham Bros yard in Barry, Wales.

After 14 years of standing in the yard and being stripped gradually of spare parts, 76084 was purchased for restoration and moved for a new life in a back garden in Nottinghamshire. She was given a cosmetic restoration, but sadly the owner passed away before any further work could take place to bring he rback to life. It's then when the 76084 Locomotive Company Ltd bought her and transferred her to the North Norfolk Railway, and last year successfully returned her to steam. And this February she came home to Lancashire after an absence of nearly 50 years, and as such was an instant hit with the East Lancashire Railway and it's regulars. And with the contract of running on the NNR due to expire at the end of 2015, there are rumours that 76084 could move to the ELR for good.

Here 76084 is seen standing at Heywood waiting to work a service to Rawtenstall on 8th February 2014. Phoenix Brewery can be seen in the background.

Description
With the beginnings of the modern railway finding it's roots in the Manchester area, many of the oldest railway works in the UK are to be found in the north west of England. Many have now closed and disappeared from existence, but some remain, and a few of these remain open for service.

Of the local works in Manchester, two stood out from the crowd. The Vulcan Foundry, Newton Le Willows, and Horwich Loco Works, Bolton. Horwich was built in 1886 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway as a new central assembly and maintenance hub for a newly extended network. Continuing through until the early 1980s, the works was responsible for the construction of many successful designs of locomotive including Aspinall 2.4.2Ts, Stanier 5MT 4.6.0s, and some of the BR Standard 4MT 2.6.0s, including this one, 76084.

76084 was completed in 1957 and outshopped to Lower Darwen shed near Blackburn, where she started a move around most of the sheds in the north west supposedly as a training vehicle for drivers from different depots to assist thm in getting used to the engines characteristics. before returning to Lower Darwen once again. As time passed, BR began to shrink down the amount of heavy engineering bases on the railways across the country, and 76084 moved to Sutton Oak in 1965, before returning to Wigan Springs Branch in 1966. By then, the steam era was ending, and as more and more diesel locos arrived to take over services, 76084 was withdrawn in 1967, and sent to Woodham Bros yard in Barry, Wales.

After 14 years of standing in the yard and being stripped gradually of spare parts, 76084 was purchased for restoration and moved for a new life in a back garden in Nottinghamshire. She was given a cosmetic restoration, but sadly the owner passed away before any further work could take place to bring he rback to life. It's then when the 76084 Locomotive Company Ltd bought her and transferred her to the North Norfolk Railway, and last year successfully returned her to steam. And this February she came home to Lancashire after an absence of nearly 50 years, and as such was an instant hit with the East Lancashire Railway and it's regulars. And with the contract of running on the NNR due to expire at the end of 2015, there are rumours that 76084 could move to the ELR for good.

Here 76084 is seen standing at Heywood waiting to work a service to Rawtenstall on 8th February 2014. Phoenix Brewery can be seen in the background.