BR Standard class 4 Tank engine 2-6-4T no. 80150.

Affectionately known as BOLSO after a mis-understanding about its number, this locomotive (which is owned by the Watercress Line Heritage Railway Trust) is a long-term restoration project.

The locomotive spent its 9-year working life on BR Southern Region, based at Brighton and then Eastleigh. It frequently worked over the Watercress Line, hauling van trains of Watercress from Alresford and on local passenger services.

Following withdrawal in 1965, 80150 was sent to Woodham Bros. scrapyard in South Wales and was one of the last locomotives to leave there for preservation, eventually arriving at the Watercress Line in 2011.

On 8th August 2023, 80150 made a historic move from Alresford to Ropley over the same rails it once travelled in the 1960s.

Since 2017 a support group, Friends of 80150 has been working to conserve the locomotive and to assemble a kit of new parts to replace those removed or damaged in the scrapyard.

These include:

# Cab roof assembly

# Front end platework

# Chimney casting

# Smokebox Door and Ring

# 4 feed and single feed Sandboxes

# Sieve Box and Feed Valve

# Cab fittings including Steam Heat Reducing Valve, Blower and Sanding Valves, Regulator Handle and bracket

# Steam Manifold casting

There are still very many parts which need to be created or acquired, and so please donate to our 'Push for Parts' campaign.