Present your case

If there’s a prototype that you think needs to be offered ready-to-run, here’s the place to voice your opinion…

Prototype: Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries

Kitson 0-6-2T

Gauge: ‘OO’

Proposed by: Peter Gower

What is it?

When it comes to tank engines there is nothing else quite like the Lambton Collieries 0-6-2T locomotives, which proved to be very effective for hauling coal from the pitheads at Philadelphia, County Durham, to the quayside at Sunderland. The first 0-6-2T for the Lambton Colliery network was No. 29, built by Kitson and Company, of Leeds. Entering service in 1904, No. 29 boasted a tractive effort of 23,500lb and, after proving successful, was joined by two identical locomotives in 1907 (Nos. 30/31). Two further 0-6-2Ts followed a couple of years later (Nos. 5/10), but these were products of Robert Stephenson’s works and differed to the Kitson originals.

All locomotives employed on the Lambton Colliery network had to be built or modified to a restricted loading gauge, which resulted in a unique rounded cab profile on the Kitson 0-6-2Ts. This was to enable the locomotives to work through the narrow tunnel to Lambton Drops at the Port of Sunderland. The Kitson locomotives gave sterling service, working right up to the contraction of the

Durham coal field and a move by the National Coal Board towards dieselisation of its remaining locomotive fleet.

What would make it viable?

The Kitson-built Lambton 0-6-2Ts have never been made available either in ready-to-run form or as a kit. The only means of producing one in miniature is scratchbuilding, or by using a 3D printer, but this can only be done if you have the equipment and skills to do so. The locomotive would naturally be a must for anyone modelling the Lambton Railway or the Hetton and Joicey collieries. It would also appeal to industrial railway enthusiasts in general, as well as those who model preserved railways.

Can I see a real one?

Six locomotives that ran on the Lambton Railway and its predecessors are preserved: No. 5 (North Yorkshire Moors Railway), No. 14 (Tanfield Railway), No. 52 (Keighley & Worth Valley Railway), No. 60 (Aln Valley Railway) and No. 67 (Gwili Railway).

However, the only member of the Kitson Company-built locomotives to survive is No. 29, which has been preserved at the NYMR since being purchased by volunteers in 1970, after a 65-year working life on the LH&JC system. No. 29 has been a regular performer over the years and, after undergoing a five-year major overhaul, the locomotive has been back in action since 2019.

Have your say

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