A FAMOUS steam locomotive built in Swindon is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The Black Prince is now owned by the renowned wildlife artist David Shepherd who was thrilled to show off his Swindon giant 92203 – a class 9F 2-10-0, built in the town in 1959.

It is kept at the Gloucester and Warwickshire Railway (GWR), which runs in the picturesque Cotswolds for 11 miles between Cheltenham Racecourse and Toddington.

A recent event at the GWR marked the start of celebrations that culminated with the launch of a limited edition model N Gauge copy of the Black Prince locomotive signed by David and manufactured by Dapol.

David was on form and I managed to catch up with him before the sprightly 78 year old bounded up the steps onto the footplate of what was the biggest locomotive built by British Railways.

As the owner of Black Prince he sits back and enjoys the ride, much to the envy of the sweating younger crew members.

I asked David if he was proud of celebrating 50 years of 92203.

He said: “I bought Black Prince straight from British Railways (BR) in 1968 and it was then driven down from Crewe under its own steam to the Longmoor Military Railway, in Hampshire. “In 41 years there have been many ups and downs and even some tears for me. After a desperate battle to keep Longmoor open when the army closed it, she eventually lost her home. I had to move her to the East Somerset Railway on the Mendips, which I founded and she stayed there for a number of years. However she is now at home here on the GWR, and I regularly drive four and a half hours from my home to spend time with my baby. That is how I see her, as a big beautiful baby.”

Ian Crowder who was celebrating his 60th Birthday and is a volunteer on the GWR had been up early preparing the loco for its day’s work.

Ian, who works for the AA at Basingstoke in their marketing department, said: “This loco like many of our locos here on the GWR was built at Swindon and the workmanship is first class, it is good when you hear people say to you we built that at Swindon, or tell you how they worked on the footplate during its short life on BR. Here on the GWR we are proud of our connection with David Shepherd. The railway is pleased to have the loco here as 9F locos worked on this track hauling mineral trains into the Midlands.”

I remarked to David how good it was that people like him have saved locos like this one for future generations. He said: “If you have enough money you can build a Black Prince, or the Taj Mahal and even a Westminster Abbey, but you can’t replace the tiger if it becomes extinct, no matter how much money you have! There are only about 1,200 tigers left and I am working with people to save them. Now that really is something that we have to save for future generations.”

He recalled when they were filming young Winston with Simon Ward and Richard Attenborough on the LMR the film crew stopped the loco on an ungated level crossing while the camera crew got ready to film it running towards the camera.

“A lady waiting on the road in her car got out and started shouting at the driver to move the loco. She then quite sternly bellowed ‘if you do not move it I will ram you!’ We all fell about laughing as a car would easily bounce off the 140 ton Black Prince. The driver moved the loco to allow the lady to pass and the film crew kept laughing all day as they told the story to the cast members,” he said.

David also raises funds for the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which flew a Spitfire over the Black Prince during birthday celebrations as a special birthday gift. David grew up in London during the Blitz in and would watch the Battle of Britain overhead as Spitfires and Hurricanes fought it out with ME 109s and bombers in the clear skies over his home in 1940.

The Black Prince has the record for a heritage steam loco hauling the heaviest load, when in 1982 it hauled 2,198 tonnes at the Foster Yeoman Merehead quarry on the Mendips. This I think is testament to the craftsmanship of Swindon workers. Fifty years on and still going strong, now that is a proud record.