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Overhaul continued into 2023
D821 was bought by members of the [[Diesel Traction Group]], becoming the first main line diesel to be sold for preservation. In May 1973 D821 moved from Laira to Didcot, another first as a preserved private owner loco running on the main line under its own power, before the ban on such running was imposed. It moved again in the following year to the private Kings Meadow sidings just east of Reading station, in the Reading Gas Works site, where it was a notable sight from trains passing on the nearby Great Western main line. From 1975 it was in the company of the DTG's [[BR Class 35 D7029]].
Between February 1977 and April 1981 the locomotive underwent an overhaul at Swindon, and then moved to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. She It finally arrived on the SVR in September 1991.<ref name ="SVR9"/>
An overhaul commenced in 2014.<ref>[http://www.svr.co.uk/MeetTheLoco.aspx?id=90 SVR meet the Locomotives]</ref> After a long period under repair at Old Oak Common (OOC) she it returned to the SVR after the OOC open day in September 2017<ref>[http://www.bropendays.co.uk/oldoak2017.html BR Open Days.co.uk] (Retrieved 4 June 2023)</ref>, before returning to use in April 2018 in time for the following month's [[Diesel galas|Spring Diesel Festival]].
From 2021/22 it saw extensive bodywork repairs, replacement of primary suspension springs, attention to the brake system and a repaint into BR Blue with full yellow ends.<ref>SVR News 218, Summer 2022, p. 23</ref>It returned to traffic for the 2023 Spring Diesel Festival. D821 is a popular [[SVR-based diesel locomotives visiting other events|visitor to other heritage railways]].
==See also==
