LSWR T3 Class No. 563

No. 563 is a preserved London and South Western Railway (LSWR) T3 class 4-4-0 tender steam locomotive.
== History ==
No. 563 was built in February, 1893 at Nine Elms Works of the London South Western Railway (LSWR) as part of their T3 class designed by William Adams in 1892. In 1923 the LSWR was taken over by the Southern Railway under the Grouping Act of the same year. No. 563 retained it's number but with an "E" suffix added until 1928 when these were discontinued.https://sremg.org.uk/steam/t3class.shtmlhttps://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/locomotives-stock/lswr-adams-t3-no-563https://www.swanageandwarehamvoice.co.uk/news/15620429.swanage-railway-raising-money-for-restoration-of-t3-class-no-563/http://563locomotivegroup.co.uk/https://nickbaines.me.uk/T3.htmlhttps://www.lswr.org/services/drawings/locomotives.htmlhttps://preservedbritishsteamlocomotives.com/563-lswr-563-sr-e563-sr-563/
No. 563 was the last of the T3, being withdrawn in August in 1945 having reached a mileage of 1.5 million. It was stored outside Eastleigh Works awaiting scrapping. But in 1948 it was cosmetically restored into LSWR Drummond livery as the representative for the LSWR for the Centenary of Waterloo station. After the exhibition concluded it was stored at the back of Farnham electric carriage shed.
Then in 1958 it was transferred to Tweedmouth for storage until it was sent to the National Railway Musuem in York, Yorkshire for permanent display in Drummond's 1903 livery of the LSWR. From May to October 2011 it was in Toronto, Canada for a production of the Railway Children. Later in 2014 it reprised this role at King's Cross in London until January, 2017.https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jan/16/railway-children-play-steam-train-kings-cross-mike-kenny-theatre
On the 30th of March, 2017 it was loaned to the Swanage Railway and then officially handed over to the Swanage Railway from the National Railway Museum with a ceremony on the 27th of May in 2017. The Swanage Railway commenced an inspection to see the possibilities of returning the loco to steam which proved successful. The railway plans to have No.563 operational by 2023.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3MP1LWb1jYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1jxZrd712w
=== Controversy ===
Enthusiasts criticized the National Railway Museum for simply handing the historic over to the Swanage Railway for seemingly to apparent obvious reason. These accusations have since all but disappeared.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGdTpQSeJkI&list=PLGOSmo9RDK7wT5Cp4nojscUOPCJT50H6d&index=30
== Trivia ==
* No. 563 is one of the oldest LSWR tender engines to be restored into operation.
== Gallery ==
File:107448484 84de79d3-d9a3-4ac0-b033-8193ce1bda13.jpg.webp
File:Steam Train at Shildon.jpg|No. 563 on display at the Shildon Locomotion Museum.
== Bibliography ==
Category:Locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:4-4-0 locomotives
Category:4-4-0 steam locomotives
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Built in 1893
Category:United Kingdom
Category:4 foot 8 1⁄2 inch gauge
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Four-coupled locomotives
Category:Nine Elms locomotives
Category:London and South Western Railway
Category:LSWR locomotives
Category:Southern Railway (UK) locomotives
Category:LSWR T3 Class
Category:Swanage Railway
Category:Locomotives featured in media
Category:Restored locomotives
Category:Sole survivor
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Preserved steam locomotives