The locomotive is seen here in the David Page Shed at Toddington with its first coats of red paint. It is hoped that the extremely bold graphics ‘Cadbury Bournville No. 1’ will be applied in gold leaf, just as they were when the engine was new, in time for the Cotswold Festival of Steam. However, as the engine’s boiler certificate expired some years ago it is appearing on static display. (Photo Ian Crowder)

Cadbury No. 1 - the diminutive tank engine that hauled the very first train on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway - will emerge from the David Page shed gleaming like a brand-new pack of Bourneville chocolate in time for the Cotswold Festival of Steam, 23rd to 26th May.

The locomotive has been loaned by the Birmingham Railway Museum to the GWR because of its historical significance for the railway because 25 years ago this year the engine set off on a 700 yard journey with a single carriage, carrying the railway's first preservation-era passengers.

This 1925-built Avonside 0-4-0 tank locomotive spent its entire working career at the Cadbury chocolate factory at Bournville, Birmingham, being retired in 1973 and bought for preservation. It moved to the GWR in 1983 to become the first operating locomotive on the line and it continued to perform until the end of 1985 when it was bought by the Birmingham Railway Museum.  You can read the full illustrated story of Cadbury No. 1 here.