Steam rail motor 93, the only survivor from the Great Western Railway’s original fleet of 99, was launched into service at Didcot Railway Centre in May, 41 years after it first arrived.
Constructed at Swindon in 1908, 93 was converted to a non-powered auto trailer in 1935 and after years as a mobile office, was purchased for preservation in 1970, arriving at Didcot later that same year.
Restoration of the rail motor began in earnest during late 2007 to restore it to its original condition. It was carried out at the Llangollen Railway.
The Heritage Lottery Fund provided £768,500 towards the restoration and also enabled the Great Western Society to purchase a number of walk over seats. These have a movable back to face direction of travel, saved from a scrap tram in Australia.
These seats happened to have been manufactured by the same company that produced the seats for 93 in 1908.
