Train saved from scrapheap set for Hogwarts role

A steam locomotive that was saved from being scrapped will star in the upcoming Harry Potter TV reboot.

Volunteers from Buckinghamshire Railway Centre spent 40 years restoring Wightwick Hall after it was salvaged from a scrapyard in Barry Island, South Wales, in 1978.

It follows in the tracks of the previous train used in the films, Olton Hall, which had been rescued from the same scrapyard.

Quainton Railway Society, which runs the centre, said it was "extremely proud" that the train, once destined for the scrap heap, would "play the role of the iconic locomotive for the Hogwarts Express".

Wightwick Hall, built at Swindon Works in 1948, was withdrawn in 1964 and sent to a Barry Island scrapyard where hundreds of trains were eventually saved by a railway preservation movement.

It is currently on loan to Bluebell Railway in West Sussex and operates on a line near Brighton.

Stephen Green, general manager of Buckinghamshire Railway Centre, said: "These trains have to be maintained and kept running to keep them in working condition, this one needs a long track which they have at Bluebell."

The train will be used for filming for six months of the year before returning to West Sussex afterwards.

Members of the team at Buckinghamshire Railway Centre will supervise during filming to ensure the train is maintained properly.

HBO has already announced a crop of actors have joined the show's cast, including Nick Frost, Paapa Essiedu, Katherine Parkinson and Paul Whitehouse.

The three child actors taking on the lead roles were revealed in May.

Mr Green hoped the train's appearance in the series would attract new fans to the working heritage railway centre.

He said: "Hopefully it's a boost for tourism. People can come and see the engineering workshops and a similar train under restoration right now."

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.