INDUSTRIAL NEWS
Overhaul of vertical boiler locomotive already under way after arrival from Embsay.
The East Lancashire Railway has become the unlikely home for a tiny 1927-built Sentinel after 50 years in Yorkshire.
Ann (Works No. 7232) moved from the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway in late July after a change of ownership.
Just days after the move, the boiler had been removed and a number of other items had been tackled, including attention to the cab and bunker. The major work required is the replacement of the unusual firebox in the water tube boiler.
Although no date has been set for completion of the overhaul, it is hoped that progress will remain rapid. The overhaul also means the 93-year-old locomotive will lose its fictional LMS livery and return to an authentic deep bronze green British Tar Products guise. Once back in steam, it is hoped that Ann will be used on light work such as ‘driver for a fiver’ and brake van rides.
One of the pair of friends who have purchased Ann, Callum Porter, told Steam Railway: “To be honest, I wanted to buy it purely to see it loved and preserved. It’s a lovely bit of kit that deserves to be cared for.”
The move across the Pennines is something of a homecoming for the 80hp machine. It was built for the Irlam works of British Tar Products, where it worked for its entire commercial career. Preservation came in 1969 when it moved to Embsay, but it would be 1997 before it steamed again.
Used mainly for steam heating duties at Embsay, Ann also visited the Bowes Railway before it was retired in 2007.
It is thought to be the oldest purpose-built Sentinel locomotive in existence. All of its earlier extant sister engines are the result of rebuilds from conventional steam locomotives.