After being a little obscure about the potential identity of our next visiting locomotive, I can now confirm (as one or two of you guessed) that Sir Berkeley is scheduled to make a return visit to Beamish, this time to operate passenger trains at Rowley Station and it appears courtesy of the Vintage Carriage Trust and Middleton Railway.  This will be for the nine-day Festival of Transport from the 24th May, and it will be paired with the overhauled Duke of Sutherland saloon and repainted (into Highland Railway livery) North London Railway coach.

Below: A reminder of Sir Berkeley’s last visit, in 2024, when it was operating in the Colliery area at Beamish.