This Day in History: 1982-05-03

03 May 1982

The Formal commissioning of steam locomotive Bonnie Dundee took place at a cold and windy Ravenglass. Lord Wakefield made a short speech thanking Ian Fraser for his generosity in donating the loco to the Railway, then he invited Mr. Roy Pilling, Operations Director of B.N.F.L. Sellafield, to unveil the nameplates; much of the work on the loco was done by B.N.F.L. apprentices.

After this, an inaugural run was made to Irton Road station, where the invited guests attended a reception at the Bower House Inn. When the guests returned to Irton Road there was a surprise: Ian Fraser presented the General Manager with the magnificent weathercock which formerly graced Bonnie Dundee's engine house at his home in Arbroath. Ian expressed the hope that this would prevent the loco from feeling too homesick at Ravenglass!