GWR 2800 Class No. 2857

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 2800 Class is a class of steam locomotives designed by George Jackson Churchward for heavy freight work. They were the first 2-8-0 'Consolidation' class of locomotives used in Great Britain. Eighty-four of them were built in total and only six have survived into preservation. No. 2857 is one of these locomotives.
== Operational history ==
No. 2857 was built in April 1918 at the GWR's Swindon Works and was delivered new to the Salisbury GWR depot in May of that year. During a working life of 45 years, during which it recorded a total mileage of 1,276,713 miles, it was based in many depots around the Western Region of GWR. In 1963 the locomotive was withdrawn from service and was sold for scrap.
== Preservation ==
No. 2857 was purchased from the Woodham Brothers Scrapyard in May 1974 by the 2857 Society. In 1975 No. 2857 was moved from the scrapyard by rail to the Severn Valley Railway. Restoration started at Bewdley in 1976, and just three years later in September 1979, No. 2857 steamed for the first time in preservation. It was one of five engines that returned to steam on the Severn Valley Railway in 1979, which earned the railway an award at the Association of Railway Preservation Societies award show.
In the 1980s, No. 2857 underwent an overhaul, which culminated with a return trip to Newport hauling a train of Severn Valley Railway's goods wagons in 1985. No. 2857's boiler certificate expired in 1995, which signaled the start of a heavy general overhaul. No. 2857 returned to steam again in 2011.
In 2021, the boiler certificate for No. 2857 expired once again but an extension was granted which allowed the locomotive to continue operating in traffic until late 2022. 
On Monday, January 2, 2023, No. 2857 ran for its final day of service on the Severn Valley Railway. No. 2857 will now go through a 10 year overhaul before returning to steam again possibly by 2035 at the latest.
== Trivia ==
* The locomotive is the second oldest (2807 being the oldest) member of the class to run in preservation becoming 100 years old in May 2018.
*No. 2857 is one of six surviving members of the GWR 2800 Class in preservation.
* An episode of the 2001 TV series "Off the Rails" filmed part No. 2857's overhaul.
* No. 2857 appeared in the 2020 Netflix film "Enola Holmes". 
== Gallery ==
File:2857.jpeg
File:Steam Locomotive 2857 (8090249000).jpg
File:Enola Holmes.webp|No. 2857 in "Enola Holmes"
File:2857-in-woodhams-scrapyard-at-barry-august-1973.jpg|2857 at the Woodham Brothers Scrapyard in August 1973
File:2857-at-bewdley-on-the-severn-valley-railway-march-2016.jpg
File:Dsc 0192.jpg
File:2857-at-highley-on-the-severn-valley-railway-march-2019.jpg
Category:Great Western Railway locomotives
Category:Locomotives featured in media
Category:2-8-0 steam locomotives
Category:2-8-0 locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:United Kingdom
Category:Built in 1918
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Swindon Works locomotives
Category:Excursion locomotives
Category:Passenger locomotives
Category:British locomotives
Category:Restored locomotives
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Severn Valley Railway
Category:Freight locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:British steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives saved from the Woodham Brothers scrapyard
Category:Preserved steam locomotives
Category:GWR 2800 Class