A 50-year-old diesel locomotive from Taiwan is scheduled to arrive in the UK at the start of 2023, with its final destination being Welshpool’s light railway, writes Malcolm Tattersall.

On January 1, after a 10,000km five-week sea voyage from Taiwan, a red-painted Japanese-built DL-34 diesel engine will dock at Liverpool, arriving in the UK on route to its new home on the Welshpool to Llanfair Light Railway.

The locomotive will be in service on the railway courtesy of a unique partnership between the Welshpool to Llanfair line and Alishan Forest Railway in Taiwan, having been linked since 2017.

DL-34 will remain with the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway on an initial 3-year loan, and both railways hope that the loan will help further their educational and cultural co-operation.

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Moving the diesel engine to Welshpool has been in the works for some time, but the Covid-19 Pandemic and invasion of Ukraine played havoc with shipping and transporting a cargo of that size.

Having been pushed back from the initial goal of autumn 2022, the locomotive is now scheduled to reach the UK in January and arrive in Welshpool soon after.

Welshpool to Llanfair Light Railway chairman Steve Clews said: “We are most grateful to the Alishan Forest Railway and Taiwan’s Forestry Bureau for their most generous offer.

“DL-34 will be a welcome and valuable addition to our roster, and we hope that once the pandemic has receded sufficiently, Taiwanese visitors will be able to come and see the loco in action here for themselves.”