GWR 4575 Class No. 5542

No. 5542 is a GWR 4575 Class or 'Small Prairie' 2-6-2T steam locomotive built for the Great Western Railway (GWR). They were designed as small mixed traffic branch tank engine locomotives, mainly used on branch lines all over the Great Western Railway system.
==History==
No. 5542 was built at Swindon Works in 1928 and was initially allocated to Gloucester before heading southwards. It was withdrawn from service in 1961 and was sold to the Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry. After sitting in the scrapyard for fourteen years, the locomotive was purchased for preservation in 1976 and was moved to the West Somerset Railway for restoration. 
No. 5542 was eventually placed in the ownership of the 5542 Ltd, who saw the locomotive restored and returned to steam again after forty years on the West Somerset Railway in the Autumn of 2002. The locomotive remained based at the West Somerset Railway, but frequently traveled on loan to other heritage railways including the South Devon Railway in Buckfastleigh.
In 2019, an agreement was reached between the South Devon Railway and 5542 Ltd. which means that No. 5542 will now be operated and maintained by the South Devon Railway for the next 30 years. The locomotive went on loan to the East Somerset Railway in September 2020 and returned to Buckfastleigh in early 2021. 
No. 5542's boiler certificate expired on April 17, 2022 and is now out of service currently awaiting an overhaul.
==Trivia==
*No. 5542 is one of eleven surviving members of the GWR 4575 Class in preservation.
== Gallery ==
File:Norton Fitzwarren Platform GWR A28 autotrailer 178 and 4575 class 5542.jpg|GWR Autocoach No.178 is propelled to Norton Fitzwarren station by auto-fitted No. 5542
Category:Swindon Works locomotives
Category:Built in 1928
Category:South Devon Railway
Category:2-6-2 locomotives
Category:2-6-2T locomotives
Category:2-6-2T steam locomotives
Category:2-6-2 steam locomotives
Category:Tank locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Great Western Railway locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Locomotives saved from the Woodham Brothers scrapyard
Category:Preserved steam locomotives