Jubilee 1897 to steam in 2023

EX-PENRHYN QUARRY Manning Wardle 0-4-0ST Jubilee 1897 is set to steam for the first time since 1955 in 2023, after it was bought by the Vale of Rheidol Railway.

Based at Aberystwyth since 2018 following the sudden collapse of the Penrhyn Quarry Railway, the 1897-built locomotive (Works No. 1382) was previously owned by Welsh Slate Ltd – successors to the Penrhyn Quarries, which originally acquired it in 1928. Following the transferral of ownership, work can finally begin to return Jubilee 1897 to steam – a plan first mooted in 2016 when it was moved from the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum at Tywyn, where it had been based since 1964, to the PQR.

VoR chairman Rob Gambrill said: “Manning Wardle is a locomotive builder not previously represented within our collection, so we jumped at the chance to secure an example of this manufacturer.

“We are planning to restore Jubilee 1897 to steam by 2023, allowing the public to see her again, and working for the first time since the 1950s.”

Named to mark Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee and originally built for use at the Cilgwyn slate quarry at Nantlle – where it worked alongside ‘Quarry Hunslet’ Works No. 554 Lilla – Jubilee 1897 was transferred to Penrhyn in 1928. Initially working at Port Penrhyn, it was stored at the quarry’s Felin Fawr workshops from 1930 until the end of the Second World War, when it was returned to steam and set to work on the Red Lion level.

Withdrawn in 1955, it ended up on the famous scrap line at Felin Fawr before it was sent on long-term loan to the NGRM, where it was cosmetically restored and placed on static display.

ANDREW BRINDLEY A vision of what’s to come. Manning Wardle 0-4-0ST Works No. 1382 is made to appear in steam at the Penrhyn Quarry Railway on November 12 2016, following its transfer from Tywyn for its first abortive restoration attempt. This was its first time back on Penrhyn metals since 1964.