Restoration of No. 2807 by Cotswold Steam Preservation started on its rescue from Woodhams scrap yard at Barry in 1981. The process has been long and at times painful, but it is now possible to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Restoration has gathered pace over the last few years, and has centred on three main objectives:
Considerable progress has been made on all of these.
Work on the loco has involved:
Progress on the boiler has included:
Progress on the tender has included:
| Feb 2006 | Boiler to Llangollen |
| 2006 and 2007 | Continue chassis and tender at Toddington |
| Early 2007 | Tender to Llangollen and completed to running condition |
| Early 2008 | Complete chassis |
| Early 2008 | Complete boiler and test |
| Mid 2008 | Re-unite chassis and boiler and test |
| Late 2008 | Start test running |
| 2009 | Running on G.W.R. |
Cotswold Steam Preservation Ltd hope to return No. 2807 to steam within the next few years. No. 2807 will then share in the duties at The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. The railway runs between Cheltenham and Toddington via Winchcombe, all in Gloucestershire. The line is ten miles in length, giving larger locomotives a sensible length of run. The next target for the railway is an extension to Broadway, Worcestershire.
Ironically, steam freight engines are very suitable for passenger services on preserved heritage railways. Preserved railways typically have a speed limit of around 25 miles per hour. Express passenger locomotives are designed for speeds much higher than this and are not so comfortable at these low speeds. Freight engines on the other hand are designed to run at lower speeds hauling heavy trains. For this reason they tend to be more at home at preserved railway speeds.
They can also be used for freight charters where they are of course doing the job for which they were designed, hauling freight trains at moderate speed.