Find home for Invicta or lose it

It seems a shame that Invicta, such a treasure of our early railway heritage, and indeed world railway history, should be the subject of argument as to where it should go, or indeed its future here in the city.

It was built in 1829 as locomotive order number 20 – Rocket was number 19 – at Robert Stephenson’s engineering company at Newcastle-upon-tyne at a cost of £635. Invicta had a short and sadly not very distinguished career on the Canterbury and Whitstable railway, opened in May 1830.

The line was then mostly rope-hauled as the locomotive could not climb the hill from Canterbury or Whitstable. Incidentally, rope haulage was also used on Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened several months later in September 1830 from Crown Street up Edge Hill bank, and indeed at Euston in 1838 for the London and Birmingham Railway, with rope haulage up Camden Bank to the locomotive Round House, now an entertainment venue.

Invicta was retired in 1836, as was Rocket a little later at Liverpool, because they had not the power to haul increasingly heavy passenger carriages or goods wagons.

Fortunately, both were not destroyed; Invicta even appeared at the Stockton and Darlington Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1875, the Newcastle Stephenson Centenary in 1881, and the Stockton and Darlington Centenary celebrations in 1925.

It was exhibited outside the Riding Gate from 1906, but obviously it gradually deteriorated being exposed to the weather.

Such was public concern that it was taken to York in 1977 and cosmetically restored and given to the ownership of the Transport Trust.

It was allowed back to Canterbury in 1980 on condition it was exhibited under cover, so the Poor Priests Hospital was then the obvious place.

A grant from the Heritage Lottery fund in 2008 to Canterbury City Council of £41,000 was given for the building of a museum in Whitstable to house it. This has not been built and would no doubt cost far more today.

Since Invicta cannot be exhibited outside, as proposed at Canterbury West station or Whitstable Harbour, the obvious places are either the Beaney Museum, where there is plenty of space (after all, it is not the size of the Flying Scotsman), or the Goods Shed next to Canterbury West Station.

If Canterbury cannot decide on a suitable permanent place for its exhibition, it should be offered to the Science Museum to join Puffing Billy and Rocket, or sent to the spiritual home of railway history, the National Railway Museum at York.

Yes, a loss to Canterbury, but if we cannot resolve the matter sensibly, there is little alternative, and in any case surely it should be viewed by an interested public rather than locked away, as at present.

After all, it is probably the fifth oldest surviving steam locomotive in the world. Hubert Pragnell Meadow Road, Canterbury

Where should the Invicta go? Historically, Whitstable has a stronger claim than Canterbury since the Invicta was never used at the Canterbury end of the Crab and Winkle line.

There were two static winding engines in the Blean Woods and it was their power which hauled the carriages up out of Canterbury by means of ropes supported on small iron drums.

The Invicta could never have managed those steep gradients.

It was only used for the last couple of miles of the journey into Whitstable and it struggled even with that. In 1832 a third stationary engine was installed, leaving the Invicta to chug backwards and forwards over just one mile of level ground. Doreen Rosman Bramshaw Road, Canterbury