Fox field restoration for JackDibn ah-owned Kerr, Stuart

KERRS, tu art' Witch' class 0-4-0STNo.4388will be restoredto working order at the Fox field Railway following its acquisitionby JackDibnah, son of the famous steeplejack, Fred.

Theone-of-a-kind locomotivehasnot run since 1999,and hasspent much of the pasttwo decadesin open storageat the line'smain CaverswalRl oadheadquarters.

However,in spite of its subsequent deteriorated condition,Mr Dibnahis hopeful he can havethe Kerr, Stuart running again by the end of this year.

Strippingof the loco has already begun, and Mr Dibnahh as started to acquire componentshewill needto completethe restorationof the unique and, by standard gauge standards, unusual lo co.

No.4388wasbuilt in 1926for the City of Stoke-on-TrenGt as Department,being employed at the Et r uri a gas works, where it replacedhorses.

By 1950a pair of Fowler-built dieselshad taken over much of No.4388'swork, and it wassoldon to the Brookfield Foundrywhich, coincidentally, occupiedthe CaliforniaWorks site that was once home to Kerr, Stuart&Co.

At Brookfield,the locojoined Bagnall0-6-0PTNo.2613,and the pair worked the site until railtraffic ceasedin 1962.

The Bagnallhad previously workedfor the Admiralty Machinery Depot, which had takenoverthe California Works site following Kerr, Stuart' s closure in 1930.

Thetwo locoswereput into store,wherethey remained for the next 20 yearsuntil the foundry went into liquidation.

No .4388 was subsequently bought by a smallgroup with linksto both the Foxfield Railwayand CreweHeritage Centre.

It movedto Foxfieldin 1983, whereit wasreturnedto steam.

The Bagnallcan now be found at MangappsRailway Museum,where it carriedthe nameBrookfield.