The Railway Magazine – July 2019

Tanfield-based Andrew Barclay 0-4-2ST No. 6

(1193/1910) is the only surviving representative of its

design‘South of the Border’but appears to be some

considerable way from restoration.

Ruddington-based Manning, Wardle 0-6-0STAbernant

(2015/1921) is another locomotive currently described

as‘stored’, but sadly once again it appears never to

have enjoyed the luxury of covered accommodation

during its preservation days.

Above: Manning, Wardle 0-6-0ST (2025/1923)Winston

Churchillis somewhat more fortunate as it appears to

have received regular re-paints, although it is parked

in the open at the Black Country Living Museum.

Left: One of the hazards of exhibiting locomotives in

the open –Winston Churchill'shollow frame stretcher

has filled up withwater during a rainy spell.

of the smokebox onSnipey. Currently listed as
being on the premises of Helical Technology Ltd,
Lytham St Anne’s, this locomotive has apparently
not been available for public viewing for some
years withour prior arrangement.
Another Neilson product currently in a form
of confinement is 0-4-0TBeckton Gasworks No. 1
(4444/1892). It is currently among a collection
of items listed for sale at the premises of Preston
Steam Services Ltd (PSSL) in Kent, but it is sad
to record that at the time of writing no suitable
preservation venue has yet come forward to offer
a home to this locomotive. Narrow gauge items
of interest currently advertised for sale by PSSL
include examples of the German ‘Luttermohler’
0-10-0T type – one of which has recently been
sold – and an 18in-gauge Bagnall-built miniature
Stirling ‘Single’, albeit fitted with a domed boiler
and sadly missing its tender.
The closure in July 2015 of Snibston
Discovery Museum in Leicestershire resulted in
the retreat from the public eye of yet another
historic industrial locomotive, a Brush 0-4-0ST
(314/1906).
The second of two 0-4-0ST locomotives
it was supplied by Brush to Powlesland and
Mason, Swansea Harbour as this concern’s
No. 6. Becoming GWR No. 921 in 1924, the

engine was sold out of service in 1928, finishing

its working career with Berry Wiggins & Co,

Kingsnorth, Kent, in the 1960s.

Distinction

At the end of May, after nearly four years

hidden from public view, the loco moved to the

Mountsorrel & Rothley Community Heritage

Centre, linked to the Great Central Railway, but

at present there are no restoration plans. There

have been suggestions it would make an ideal

companion for GWR 0-4-0ST’s Nos. 1338 and

1340 Trojanat Didcot.
One additional historical distinction this
engine bears should also be noted – it is one of
three designs in preservation whose sisters found
use on the Swansea & Mumbles Railway. The
other two are represented by Black Hawthorn
0-4-0STCity of Aberdeenat Marley Hill and
surviving Avonside ‘B3’ 0-6-0ST’s such asLucyat
the Ribble Steam Railway, Preston.
One particularly attractive specimen currently
hidden from public view at Carnforth is the
former Wigan Iron & Coal Co 1887-vintage
0-6-0STLindsay. This locomotive saw a fair
amount of use in preservation following its rescue
from a scrapyard and restoration to working order
in the late-1970s, but it has sadly been inactive
in more recent years. It would certainly be most
agreeable to see this sole-surviving Wigan-built
steam locomotive operational once more.
One area of steam locomotive preservation
that has been away from the limelight until
comparatively recent years has been the field of
3ft gauge. The transfer of ex-Lamport Ironstone
Co Peckett 0-6-0STScaldwell(1316/1913)
from Amberley to the Southwold Railway Trust’s
workshops for restoration to working order has
been a welcome development.
Similarly, so has the restoration to working
order of Avonside 0-6-0TNancy(1547/1908)
for use at Dromod, in Ireland, and the project
currently being undertaken by the Eastwell
History Group to restore Hudswell, Clarke
0-4-0STLord Granby(633/1902) as a static
exhibit. Unfortunately, restoration work appears
to have largely stalled on similar Hudswell, Clarke
locomotiveHandyman(573/1900), based
at the National Railway Museum. This would

appear in part to be a consequence of the level

of component loss sustained by the locomotive

during its years of idleness.

Public railways of 3ft gauge were of course

generally more prolific in Ireland than on the

British mainland, and at the time of writing two

of the 2-6-4T locomotives formerly used on

the County Donegal Railways system –No. 4

MeenglasandNo. 5 Drumboe –face uncertain

futures despite the existence of restoration plans.

Deterioration

In the former case cosmetic restoration is

planned, but the locomotive has unfortunately

returned to open display at the Foyle Valley

Railway Museum in Londonderry. This is

a far from satisfactory state of affairs as the

deterioration in the engine’s condition that

had prompted its cosmetic restoration will

only return.

In the case ofDrumboe, more extensive work

was started, but this has stalled owing to the

need to raise further finance. Another important

survivor from the Irish ‘secondary railways’ scene

is ex-Cavan & Leitrim Robert Stephenson 4-4-0T

Lady Edith,now in store at the New Jersey

Museum of Transportation. Recent attempts to

return this locomotive to Ireland have so far failed

to come to fruition.

Mention has already been made of the

role played by limitations on resources on the

ability to restore particular locomotives. In

some cases, this – together with operational

priorities – will mean certain locomotives have

to ‘take their turn’ in the queue for restoration

to working order.

Classic examples in this area are Kerr,

Stuart ‘Witch’ class 0-4-0ST, based on the

Foxfield Railway; unique Manning, Wardle

0-6-0STLittleton No. 5(2008/1922), based

at Bitton station on the Avon Valley Railway;

and 0-4-0STMalleable No. 5at Beamish.

A welcome recent development is the

Furness Railway Trust’s movement of unique

inside cylinder 0-4-0STBarrow Hematite

Co No. 17to the Ribble Steam Railway’s

workshops at Preston for restoration to

working order. This locomotive is important

for being a classic example of a ‘house-style’

industrial locomotive created by extensive

rebuilding from a second-hand purchase.

Similar rebuilds were undertaken by such

industrial users as South Hetton Colliery,

Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries and

July 2019 •The Railway Magazine•57