Paper mill reunion for former Bowaters locomotives
TWO locomotives that were once owned by the same paper mill – but ran on two different gauges of track - have been reunited for the first time in preservation after moving to go on display together in the One:One Collection.
As reported last issue, the Bluebell Railway’s SECR P class 0-6-0T No. 178 moved to the Margate museum on February 21 for undercover storage and display. It was then joined the following day by the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway’s Kerr Stuart Brazil class 0-4-2ST No. 926 Leader, both locomotives having previously been employed together at the Kent mill complex.
Rich history
Paper manufacture began at Sittingbourne in 1708, before the Sittingbourne Paper Mill was completed in 1769 with materials brought in by barge along Milton Creek. A 2ft 6in gauge horse-drawn tramway was introduced in 1906 to convey the deliveries to the mill but was quickly converted to accommodate steam operations by 1908, with Leader and classmate Premier being the first two locomotives to appear on the line. As the creek silted up, a deepwater dock was built on the Swale Estuary and the railway was extended in 1916 to connect to this. A second mill opened at Kemsley Down in 1924, which saw the railway reach its maximum length of 3½ miles, with sidings and doubletrack sections bringing the physical track total to 10 miles.
A standard gauge line was constructed to connect the dock and mill to the Southern Railway branch which connected Sittingbourne to the Isle of Sheppey, on which two Bagnall 0-4-0ST locomotives were employed, the first from 1935 and the second from 1942. One was scrapped in 1954, and the second, No. 2542 Jubilee, eventually entered into preservation at the East Anglian Railway Museum in Essex in 1976.
To replace the scrapped locomotive, Bowaters purchased P No. 178 from BR; the locomotive had been loaned to shunt at Ridham Docks in 1953 and again in 1956 so was no stranger to the complex and was thus seen in the same vicinity as Leader. While there, No. 178 was painted into SECR lined green, but with that extant company’s branding replaced with the name Pioneer II (spoken as Pioneer the Second).
Preservation first
The P was withdrawn in 1969 after suffering severe damage to the cylinders, with Leader also being withdrawn in the same year – just before the narrow gauge line was preserved.
Margate will be the first time both locomotives have been seen together since No. 178 departed after being sold to the Bluebell.
A SKLR statement said: “The railway has limited covered storage for its locos and as the 1905-built Brazil class locomotive is expected to be out of service for some time, retiring to the seaside is the best option. The locomotive was operational until 2022, when its 10-year boiler certificate expired. It then joined the back of the maintenance/overhaul queue. Triumph retired from service in 2008 to await its overhaul and returned to the engine shed for that to start last year, however, the damage to the paint and metalwork is stark and adds to the overhaul cost, so the opportunity to move Leader to dry storage was snapped up! We would like to thank the One:One Collection, for arranging for the relocation and safe keeping of the engine.”