A man who used to drive an iconic Swindon locomotive is attempting to raise £500,000 to help restore the train which was built in the town almost a century ago.

Dave Cook drove Locomotive 4566 as well as other trains when he was a driver for Severn Valley Railway between 1979 and 1990.

The 69-year-old said: “It was an incredible experience and I felt very privileged to be able to do it.

“There are a lot of people out there who would give their left leg to drive a locomotive.

”It is a fantastic privilege to be able to drive a steam engine without a shadow of a doubt.”

Dave explained the hard work that went into getting to the position of driver having been a cleaner and fireman for years before eventually training to be a driver.

Dave is a member of the charity 4566 Preservation Group, which has started a campaign to raise money to contribute to the costs of overhauling the engine of this iconic locomotive.

The train is a distinguished part of the GWR 4500 Class and was constructed in Swindon in 1924. The locomotive celebrates its 100th birthday next year in November.

The train has not been in use since 2017 which is when its previous boiler license ran out. It had originally been handed a license in 2007.

The group are hoping to raise approximately £500,000 towards the cost of overhauling the engine.

Although the responsibility of the engine is that of Severn Valley Railway, the 4566 Preservation Group is working to raise as much money as they can to contribute to repairing it.

A large bulk of the money will be spent overhauling the boiler because it is a pressure vessel. The money raised will also go towards coal which has massively risen in price and will also go towards labour and other costs.

Dave said: “You cannot cut corners with pressure vessels, the standard of work that goes into them is very high”

“Its real claim to fame is that it was the last steam engine that was repaired at Newton Abbot Works in June/July, 1960.

“If by doing what we’re doing now means that that engine can be running in five years’ time, that would be absolutely fantastic”.

If you would like to support the group you can help them at: www.4566.org.uk