Volunteers trying to move and restore a historic steam locomotive from Swindon are just over £800 away from reaching their fundraising target.
The General Steam Navigation Locomotive 35011, a 1944 engine, arrived at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway in 2019, with plans for a 10-year volunteer-led restoration project.
Gerry Leyman, a director of the restoration society, said it would "fill a missing link in the history of British steam locomotive development."
However, in February 2025, volunteers were told to take their steam engine elsewhere after National Heritage Lottery funding was cut.
Swindon and Cricklade Railway claimed that restoration of the historic locomotive no longer fit "with the railway's future vision and business plan."
The General Steam Navigation Restoration Society, run entirely by volunteers, estimated the cost of moving the huge boiler and associated parts out of Swindon at £10,000 and launched a GoFundMe campaign with a £5,000 target to help cover expenses.
Now, exactly a year after it was set up, the fundraiser is painstakingly close to reaching that goal, with current donations at £4,184.
A spokesman for the society said: "Blunsdon has been a good home for the last five years and it has afforded GSNLRS the opportunity to lift the boiler, complete full surveys and remove various components for preservation and overhaul.
"With our new working base at The Yeovil Railway Centre, our dedicated volunteers are ready to commence the next phase of restoration.
"This facility will enable us to start to manufacture essential new components for 35011, bringing us closer to realising our vision of seeing her restored as she was when first built.
"Every contribution counts; the more we can raise together, the more resources we can allocate towards the ongoing restoration efforts."
Allan Bott, one of the team who helped bring the locomotive to Swindon, said he was "gutted" to see the main boiler leave Swindon in May, and described it as a "sad sight indeed."
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Swindon and Cricklade Railway has said that relations between the two organisations remain positive and that it is focusing on its own future at the Blunsdon site.
A spokesman for the railway said: "It was never the intention that the loco should stay at the S&CR forever."
The GoFundMe to help secure the future of the locomotive remains open, and volunteers are urging anyone who can help to do so.
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