Hastings returns after 56 years
BRITAIN’S OLDEST surviving six-coupled Hunslet – Works No. 469 Hastings – steamed for the first time in 56 years at the Statfold Barn Railway on May 7.
Built in 1888 for Manchester Ship Canal contractors Messrs T.A. Walker and originally named Liverpool, the 0-6-0ST was renamed Hastings after it was sold to contractors Messrs Price, Wills & Reeves in 1898. During its time with this firm, Hastings was used to help build Brooklands motor circuit – the world’s first purpose-built banked racing circuit – and Immingham Docks. It eventually ended up at Sproxton ironstone quarry in Lincolnshire, where it worked until withdrawal in 1957.
Purchased for preservation by the Kent & East Sussex Railway in 1963, it was steamed just once at the KESR – on April 18 1965 – owing to the poor condition of its boiler. Restoration was started in 1975; in 2002, Hastings was bought be Martin Staniforth and moved to Mangapps Railway Museum before it was acquired by its present owner, Mike Hart, in 2017.
Based initially at the Elsecar Heritage Railway, Hastings’ boiler received a new firebox at North Norfolk Railway Engineering and moved to Statfold Engineering Ltd in May 2020 for overhaul of its axleboxes and wheelsets.
Hart described Hastings’ first steaming as “a memorable, satisfying and most enjoyable day”, and that the locomotive had “constantly thrown engineering shocks and surprises at us, more than I’ve come across working on other locomotives in the past, all largely resultant from a long industrial career of make do and mend.
“A very big thank you to everyone who’s been a part of the Hastings restoration project, as well as to Martin Staniforth for the work he had done, including manufacturing a complete new firebox.”