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 Nancy at Alan Keef's workshop | |||||||||||
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Nancy is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. It was built by Avonside Engine Company in 1908 for industrial service. It was in use until 1961, when it was acquired for preservation. After many years of effort and long storage, it was returned to working order in April 2019, and was then moved to its current owners, the Cavan and Leitrim Railway in Ireland. [1]
Nancy was bought in 1908 by the Stanton Ironworks Company's for use on their Brewer's Grave Tramway connecting to the Woolsthorpe ironstone quarries in Leicestershire. [1] The locomotive was later sold to the Eastwell Ironstone Company for use on their tramway at Eastwell, Leicestershire. She ran there until 21 October 1959, when the tramway shut down, though the line was kept intact as a standby to the replacement road system. On 28 August 1960, the Birmingham Locomotive Club ran a farewell train, hauled by Nancy. [2]
Nancy was acquired in 1961 by a group in Watnall, Nottinghamshire with a view to preservation. In 1972, the loco was sold to Lord O'Neill for his Shane's Castle Railway in County Antrim.
Nancy was bought by the Cavan & Leitrim Railway in 1997, still in unrestored condition. [1] In 1999, the locomotive was moved to Alan Keef in England for restoration to working order. Although work began there, it came to a halt owing to a downturn in the Irish economy and the loco was then stored for a number of years. The work took twenty years to complete, and Nancy steamed for the first time on 23 March 2019. [3] The chance of Brexit gave increased impetus to this work, as shipping the locomotive back to Ireland from an England which had by-then left the EU gave a risk of attracting import duties or VAT. The locomotive was shipped back to Ireland, and was run on the restored Cavan and Leitrim Railway in April 2019. [4]
Woolsthorpe by Belvoir, also known as Woolsthorpe is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 415. It is situated approximately 5 miles (8 km) west from Grantham, and adjoins the county border with Leicestershire. The neighbouring village of Belvoir lies on the other side of the border. Grantham Canal is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north-east at its closest point.
Brush Traction was a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England whose operations have now been merged into the Wabtec company's Doncaster UK operations.
The West Lancashire Light Railway (WLLR) is a 2 ft narrow gauge railway that operates at Hesketh Bank, situated between Preston and Southport in North West England. The distance between the stations on the railway is 430 yards (393 m), though track extends eastwards beyond Delph station on ledge above the old clay pit which is too narrow to contain a run round loop. An extension of up to 435 metres (1,427 ft), running along the north bank of the fishing lake has been proposed. The railway has seven steam locomotives, three of which are in operating condition; two are currently being rebuilt and another is on static display. There are also two electric locomotives and many IC locomotives.
Scaldwell is a village and civil parish in the West, Northamptonshire, England.
Andrew Barclay Sons & Co., currently operating as Brodie Engineering, is a builder of steam and later fireless and diesel locomotives. The company's history dates to foundation of an engineering workshop in 1840 in Kilmarnock, Scotland.
Ab Kettleby is a village and civil parish in the Melton district of Leicestershire, England, located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Melton Mowbray, on the A606 road. It had a population of 501 in 2001; at the 2011 census this had increased to 529.
The Cavan and Leitrim Railway was a 3 ft narrow-gauge railway in the counties of Leitrim and Cavan in northwest Ireland, which ran from 1887 until 1959. Unusually for Ireland, this 3 ft narrow gauge line survived on coal traffic, from the mine at Arigna, although the original main line was constructed principally for traffic in cattle. It outlived most of the other Irish narrow-gauge lines, giving a further lease of life to some of their redundant engines.
The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St. Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company.
Cavan and Leitrim Railway 1 to 8 were 4-4-0T locomotives built by Robert Stephenson and Company, and were the first locomotives on the C&LR. On the 1925 amalgamation, when the railway became part of the Great Southern Railways, they were designated Class 1L or Class DN2.
Eaton is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, situated in the Vale of Belvoir. The population at the 2011 census was 648. The civil parish includes nearby Eastwell to the west of the village. Eaton has a church, a village hall and a children's park, but the public house called The Castle and its adjacent shop have closed.
Black, Hawthorn and Company was a steam locomotive manufacturer with a works situated in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, UK.
The Kettering Ironstone Railway was an industrial 3 ft narrow gauge railway that served the ironstone quarries around Kettering.
The Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum is a museum of industrial railway equipment, located at Penrhyn Castle near Bangor in Wales.
The Hook Norton ironstone quarries (Brymbo) were ironstone quarries near Hook Norton in Oxfordshire, England. The quarries were in operation from 1899 to 1946 supplying ironstone to the Brymbo Steelworks in Wrexham and were served by the Brymbo Ironworks Railway, an extensive, 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge industrial railway.
F. C. Hibberd & Co Ltd was a British locomotive-building company founded in 1927 to build industrial petrol and diesel locomotives.
Knipton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Belvoir, in the Melton district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It lies about 6 miles (10 km) from the town of Grantham, just off the A607, and 10 miles (16 km) from Melton Mowbray. It borders the Duke of Rutland's estate at Belvoir Castle. Although the village is in Leicestershire, it has a Nottinghamshire postcode and a Lincolnshire (Grantham) STD code. In 1931 the parish had a population of 273. On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished and merged with Belvoir.
The Castlederg and Victoria Bridge Tramway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railway operating in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It opened in 1883 and closed in 1933.
Eastwell is a village and ecclesiastical parish in Leicestershire, England.
The Eaton Branch Railway was a standard gauge industrial railway built to serve ironstone quarries around the village of Eaton in Leicestershire. It operated from 1884 until 1965.
