Exclusive:Himalayan Railway steam locomotive’s return to Glasgow for Commonwealth Games - 137 years after being built

Narrow gauge engine is the only one of its type to return from India

A steam locomotive built in Glasgow for a mountain railway in the Indian Himalayas is to return to the city for the first time since it was exported 137 years ago under plans to showcase it during the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

The narrow gauge engine, simply named 19B, was among 40 constructed to haul passengers and freight from the plains of India up to Darjeeling, some of which are still running on the classic line.

Locomotive 19B is being restored at Statfold Barn Railway | Andy Savage

It is being restored at a heritage railway in England. A new boiler designed by the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway in Wales is due to be fitted early next year so the locomotive can operate again from next summer.

Built in 1889, the locomotive was withdrawn from service with a boiler fault in 1960, then sold to an enthusiast in America, where it remained for more than 40 years.

The engine was acquired in 2002 by Adrian Shooter, the-then managing director of English train operator Chiltern Railways, who died three years ago. The locomotive was then bought by the Darjeeling Tank Locomotive Trust, a charity established to preserve it.

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Once restored, it is hoped that 19B will run again at the Statfold Barn Railway, near Tamworth in Staffordshire, where it has been based for the past two years.

Trust vice-president Andy Savage said: “It is part of an iconic class of locomotives, recognised worldwide, and a design of 1889, built at the Sharp, Stewart works in Springburn, that is still doing what it was built for in 2025.

“All other working B-class locos are still in use on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - ours is the only one to have left India since arrival there.

The locomotive visiting the Ffestiniog Railway in 2005 | Andy Savage

“The trust particularly wants to take the locomotive back to Glasgow at the time of the Commonwealth Games, when we hope that its long history in India will be of interest to those who have links with that country, as well as being a wonderful example of how Glasgow built and exported locomotives across the world.”

Mr Savage said the trust was seeking possible venues in Springburn to display the locomotive during the Games in July next year, which could be accompanied by a theatrical production.

John Messner, curator of transport and technology at the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, said: “It is an amazing survivor and its service history in India and latterly back here in the UK sounds unique.

“Sharp, Stewart, and latterly the North British Locomotive Company, produced thousands of locomotives that were exported across the globe. Loco 19B represents that legacy and if it were to visit the city of its birth, I am sure that it will receive a warm welcome.”

Mr Messner said the giant Glasgow-built South African Railways locomotive 3007, acquired by Glasgow Museums which is on show at the Riverside Museum, was “another example of the global impact made by Glaswegian locomotive builders”.

Glasgow Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said: “I have been working with the trust to bring 19B back to the site where it was built, now the Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries.

“Perhaps there is an opportunity to feature this rare surviving example of Glasgow’s engineering prowess in the opening or closing ceremonies for the Games - an idea I am keen to promote with the organisers.”