The steam locomotive 6989 ‘Wightwick Hall’, which stars in the upcoming Harry Potter TV series, will visit the Epping Ongar Railway in April.
While it is set to pull the railway’s steam hauled services throughout April – including over the Easter holidays – the locomotive will also feature in the Spring Steam Gala, running between April 17 and 19.
The Great Western Railway (GWR) locomotive was built at Swindon Works in 1948, working trains in the Gloucester and Hereford areas until it was withdrawn in June 1964.
It was then sold to the Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, before returning to steam in 2018 after a 40-year restoration.
In line with the original Hogwarts Express train used in the Harry Potter films, the series locomotive was repainted red for its role.
The locomotive used for the films was also a GWR Hall class, rescued from Woodham Brothers scrapyard, but is no longer in use and instead displayed at Warner Bros. Studio Tour, in Leavesden.
Epping Ongar Railway’s steam gala has a “Great Western workhorses” theme, with an unmodified GWR Hall class locomotive joining the Hogwarts Express.
During the event, all trains will be running alongside the railway’s fleet of vintage London buses to provide connections with Ongar, North Weald, Epping Underground and Shenfield stations.
There will also be footplate rides available, allowing train enthusiasts to join the crew where the locomotive is operated from.
Tickets are available on the Epping Ongar Railway website.