Today, Thursday April 7, 2011 at 10:30am, London & South Western Railway T3 4-4-0 No.563 will be unveiled to the press as the star of the Toronto production of The Railway Children which opens on May 3rd at Roundhouse Theatre. The public is welcome to attend!

LSWR No. 563 has safely arrived from the UK and was bedded down last night in Stall 15 at the John Street Roundhouse for unpacking and cleaning after her trans-Atlantic voyage. The protective materials and Vaseline have been cleaned off, and a bit of the old CPR “John Street Polish” applied by members of the Toronto Railway Historical Association.

In the group photo above, we find (from left to right) Michael Guy, Charlie Bird (of the National Railway Museum in the U.K.), Dave Fleming, Mark Pompeo, and Bob Dickson preparing to work all night to clean up and polish the T3 steam engine. Also helping out, but missing from this group photo is Matthew Erwood.

To read about the press event, click here!

Posting and pictures by Stephen Gardiner