A HISTORIC loco and 'film star' has retired from service.

The No 43924 Midland Railway 4F steam locomotive has performed its final duties hauling passengers along the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

"It went out on a high note – with a week of hauling six coaches on our mince pie specials!" said a spokesperson.

Its final day of operation was New Year's Eve, when its boiler certificate expired.

Completed by the Midland Railway in 1920, 3924 – as it was then numbered – spent only three years in the company's ownership.

It served with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway for a quarter of a century and then with British Railways for 17 years.

When its working life finally came to an end, the loco was consigned to a scrapyard in Barry, South Wales.

But a saviour went to its rescue.

"43924 secured its place in folklore in 1970 when it became the first of over 200 locomotives to leave the scrapyard for a life in preservation," said the spokesperson. "A small band of enthusiasts, operating under the name The 4F Society, gained permission to purchase and remove it."

It was later sold to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, where it ran faultlessly until being withdrawn from service to await an overhaul.

Some two decades on, in 2011, the popular engine once again ran under its own power and returned to action on the famous five-mile line.

"During its time it has visited a number of other heritage railways across the UK and featured in several filming contracts – it has been quite a busy few years for the old girl!" said the spokesperson.

"Many of the volunteers who helped get 43924's wheels turning again were the same band of volunteers who helped to get the engine saved in the first place, and for them 43924 has been very much a family member."

The engine's various film credits include Testament of Youth and Swallows and Amazons.

And last year it featured in filming for the eagerly-anticipated sequel to the classic 1970 movie, The Railway Children.

The Railway Children Return – which sees Jenny Agutter reprise her role as Bobbie, and also stars Sheridan Smith and Tom Courtenay – opens in UK cinemas on April 1.

It is planned to put 43924 on display in Oxenhope Exhibition Shed.

For more about the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, visit kwvr.co.uk.

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