TO celebrate its 100th year of running, the Q6 class locomotive No 63395 has received a makeover, which has been restored it to its original livery.

The North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group (NELPG), on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR), has temporarily repainted the locomotive into its original North Eastern Railway livery, which it carried when built at Darlington in 1918.

Now those who travel behind this iconic locomotive can take a journey back to the early 1900s. Originally, the Q6 was an unglamorous freight workhorse that plied the tracks of the North East of England hauling heavy coal trains for 50 years. It was one of the very few pre-grouping steam locomotives to survive right up to the end of steam on British Railways.

Chris Lawson, NELPG chairman said: “It is fantastic to see the Q6 reach its centenary, still in operation and giving pleasure to the hundreds of passengers and visitors to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The only 0-8-0 currently in working preservation, it was so nearly lost to the scrap man in 1967 and saved with only hours before it was due to be cut up. Those who built it at Darlington Works in 1918 could never have envisaged it still running 100 years later, and it is a tribute to the efforts and dedication of the Group’s volunteers over the last 51 years that this icon of the North East coalfield can still be seen at work today.”

Chris Price, general manager at NYMR, said: “The Q6 is a very special engine here at the railway and it’s great to see the engine as a North Eastern Railway Class T2. It has offered so much to the rail industry over the past century so to see it restored back to its original look is fantastic.”

Visitors and passengers can view the Q6, which will be in operation during the NYMR’s Behind the Scenes event during the May Bank Holiday and will be a great sight to see.

To book, visit nymr.co.uk