Budley not in Budleigh

In the last post I featured a picture of my sister and I sitting in the cab of an engine called 'Budley'. After a good Googling, I have found my old friend.

Budley was a Ruston & Hornsby locomotive type 13DL, purchased by the Ministry of Works in 1945 for use on 2ft guage track. In 1959 the Fairy Glen Miniature Railway re-gauged the engine to 18 inch and six years later it was sold to Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway. Bicton Woodland Railway then got it in 1974 and named the engine Budley after Budleigh in Devon. 

Budley is just a shell without gearbox or engine. Its new owners, The Royal Gunpowder Mills are going to re-build budley to a working engine. They purchased Bicton's other locomotives along with old Budley in 2000. More on this another time.

Picture below © 'Jampics'