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|power = 34,215 lb
|pressure = 225 lb/sq in
}}'''Longmoor Military Railway No. 600 'Gordon'''' was built in 1943 at the North British Locomotive Company’s Hyde Park Works in Glasgow as works number 25437. The locomotive, which is named after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_George_Gordon|General Gordon of Khartoum], is a World War II ‘Austerity’ locomotive designed by R. A. Riddles, and was the second of 150 such locomotives built. It was originally numbered WD 73651 for the War Department.
The standard War Department [[Whyte notation | 2-8-0]] freight locomotive was a simplified version of the LMS 8F. The [[Whyte notation | 2-10-0]] design was introduced to give a reduced axle loading, mainly intended for overseas use where track quality could be worse than Great Britain. To enable the locomotive to negotiate sharp curves, the 2-10-0’s centre driving wheels are flangeless whilst the next pairs have reduced flanges (a feature continued in the BR Standard 9F).
Having seen action in each of the years 1972 to 1984, Gordon’s boiler succumbed to broken stays and thin firebox plates and the locomotive was withdrawn from service at the end of that year, in the words of Chief Engineer [[Alun Rees]] "''much to the relief of many of the footplate crews''".<ref> SVR News 74</ref>
After a period out of service, Gordon re-entered service on 8 December 1990, the day being marked by a severe blizzard.<ref>SVR News 98</ref> On 4 September 1993, Gordon took over an incoming railtour with the VSOE Pullman train at Kidderminster, when Prince Michael of Kent travelled on the footplate. The locomotive was also used for a series of specials with TV entertainer Roy Castle on Saturday 25 March 19941995.<ref namegroup= "SB9note">A caption in SVR News 114 Spring 1995 p.6. states "Saturday 25 March 1994". Given the 1995 date of publication, and that 25 March was a Saturday in 1995 but a Friday in 1994, the running date is assumed to be 1995. Stock Book 9 also mentions 1994, possibly based on that caption.</ref> Service continued until 1998, although in the SVR News locomotive notes for spring 1999 Jan Chojnacki reported that "''I have it on good authority that a sweepstake is being organised for the next failure''".<ref>SVR News 129</ref> The words proved prophetic, as shortly thereafter a fractured small tube causing significant damage in the firebox.<ref>SVR News 130</ref>
Gordon has not seen service on the SVR since 1999. It was one of the original locomotives to go on display in [[The Engine House]] at Highley from opening in March 2008. On Friday 25 July 2008, Gordon was formally handed over from the National Army Museum to the SVR in a ceremony at the Engine House, where it remains on display.<ref>SVR News 164</ref><ref>SVR given Gordon, Heritage Railway Magazine, Issue 115, 4 September – 1 October 2008</ref> Gordon is owned by [[Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC | SVR(H)]].
==References==
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==Notes==
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==Links==
