A popular steam locomotive has reached the end of the line after being withdrawn from service after a decade on one of Norfolk's railways.
'Black Prince' - a British Railways BR Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 - entered service on the North Norfolk Railway's Poppy Line between Sheringham and Holt in 2014, covering almost 35,000 miles over the last decade.
But Black Prince has now been withdrawn from the line after coming to the end of its ten-year boiler ticket - the safety certificate issued for steam locomotive boilers.
No. 92203 was built in Swindon in 1959 but only had a working life of just eight years with British Railways before being withdrawn in November 1967.
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Graham Hukins, North Norfolk Railway's interim general manager, explained: “There was such a desire to move away from old fashioned steam engines that many were set aside after scandalously short careers.
"Fortunately 92203 was purchased by wildlife artist and railway enthusiast David Shepherd and it was he that named the engine Black Prince.”
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The locomotive had spells at the Longmoor Military Railway, Eastleigh Depot, the East Somerset Railway and the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway before moving to Norfolk.
In September 1982 it worked the heaviest steam-hauled freight train in Britain - 2,198 tonnes - at Foster Yeoman’s Tor Works.
However, Black Prince was side-lined in December last year and thorough investigations by the railway's engineering team have now revealed a leak in the main internal steam pipe.
Mr Hukins said: “Unfortunately the location of the fault and the amount of work needed means it is not possible to carry out a cost-effective repair given the limited use possible before the boiler ticket expires in early May."
North Norfolk Railway services will run on Sundays in March and most days between April and October.
Trains run through five-and-a-half miles of scenery between Sheringham and Holt.
Full details and timetables can be found at www.nnrailway.co.uk/opening-dates/
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