4561 was withdrawn from traffic in 1998 needing a major overhaul. After several years on hold, work restarted in earnest in 2019. This page tells the story so far, with photographs from the teams at Williton, Minehead and Riley and Son. For every step in detail, see the restoration diary.
Where things stand (autumn 2026): the chassis is at Williton, where the brake gear has just been refitted; the first of two new side tanks has been completed at Minehead; and the boiler is being overhauled by Riley and Son in Lancashire.
New frames and new cylinders
When the overhaul stalled, 4561 already had new main frames: the section behind the cylinders had been renewed and primed, and the parts for the front section trial fitted. New cylinders had been cast and were left to weather in Williton yard before machining.
Work resumed late in 2018. The cylinders were machined by Roach Engineering, using the old cylinder block as a pattern alongside the original Great Western drawings, and arrived back at Williton on 20 August 2020. Meanwhile the team fitted new horn blocks and horn stays, which hold the axleboxes and tie the bottom of the frames together, each bolt made and fitted by hand.
Building the front end
The two cylinder castings, each with half of the smokebox saddle, were bolted together on a precisely machined surface table nicknamed the ‘coffee table’ and checked to two-thousandths of an inch. New frame extensions were shaped, drilled and fitted, and in February 2021 the complete cylinder assembly was lowered into the main frames. To the team’s delight, the smokebox fitted perfectly.
Through 2021 the front buffer beam, buffers, footplate brackets and front frame members were fitted and riveted, and the slide bars were refurbished and aligned using datum wires along the cylinder centre lines.
Wheels, axleboxes and pony trucks
The coupled axleboxes needed new bronze bearings and liners, and cracks found during cleaning were repaired by welding. One piston head turned out not to be square to its rod, so both piston rods and heads are being replaced; the first replacement castings proved porous and had to be made again.
In 2022 Tyseley Locomotive Works re-profiled all six axle journals and wheel faces on its wheel lathe. Back at Williton the axleboxes were white-metalled and machined, frames riveted, and a badly bent pony truck was heated and straightened. By early 2024 both pony trucks were painted and back on their wheels.
The boiler goes to Lancashire
In 2024 the WSRA and the West Somerset Railway agreed that the boiler work should go to a specialist contractor, leaving the Williton team free to finish the chassis. After a tender, Riley and Son were chosen, and the boiler left Williton on 18 April 2024.
At Riley’s the firebox was removed and the boiler fully assessed. The old coned barrel section has been condemned and a new one is being made, and the copper firebox is being crack-tested and repaired. It is one of the biggest costs of the whole restoration.
New side tanks at Minehead
The tanks made in the 1980s had not survived 30 years in storage, and were smaller than the originals. A volunteer team at Minehead, who built the new tender tank now running with Odney Manor, is building a new pair to the original Swindon drawing of November 1920, so 4561 will carry her full water capacity and won’t need to stop for water at Williton.
The right-hand tank has been welded, bolted and riveted, and is now complete. The left-hand tank comes next.
The chassis comes together
At Williton, Ryan, Matt and the West Somerset Railway team have been fitting the motion. The rod bearings have been completed, the eccentrics white-metalled, machined and fitted, and in October 2026 the brake gear was refitted.
What still needs doing
- Complete the boiler overhaul at Riley and Son, then return it to Somerset
- Build the second side tank at Minehead
- Finish the chassis, motion and pipework at Williton
- Overhaul the cab, bunker and fittings, reunite boiler, tanks and chassis, then paint, test and certify the locomotive
All of this depends on donations. Please give what you can: every gift is spent only on 4561.
Photographs by Ryan Pope, Matt Healey, Harry Spencer, Josh Chivers, Paul Orrells, Martyn Hughes (Roach Engineering), Tyseley Locomotive Works and the WSRA. Many of the early diary entries were written by the late Mike Johns, whose knowledge guided the restoration for many years.