Haydock to pay homage to Isle of Wight Freshwater
ROBERT STEPHENSON 0‑6‑0T Haydock has been gifted to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, where it will pay homage to the history of the Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway.
The 1876‑built locomotive (Works
No. 2309) arrived on the Isle of Wight on February 1, and has taken up static display at Train Story at Havenstreet on the IoWSR.
Haydock had previously formed part of the railway collection at the National Trust’s Penrhyn Castle, much of which has been dispersed in recent weeks following a review of the NT’s exhibits there (see separate stories, and SR554).
Acquiring Haydock has been a long‑held ambition of the IoWSR, as it is identical to 1885‑built Robert Stephenson 0‑6‑0T
Freshwater (Works No. 2383), which was used as a contractor’s locomotive in the construction of the Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway on the island. Both Haydock and Freshwater were part of a class of four locomotives built by Robert Stephenson & Co., two in 1876 (Works Nos. 2309 and 2310) and two in 1885 (Works Nos. 2383 and 2384). Freshwater arrived on the island in June 1887 and was also used to haul several special trains. It also ran briefly on the Isle of Wight Central Railway before leaving the island in October 1891; subsequently renamed Longdown, it was used in the construction of the Exeter‑ Christow line on the mainland.
Like Freshwater, Haydock was also used as a contractor’s locomotive, and was used on a North Eastern Railway project near Bolton Percy in around 1903. It was later acquired by Richard Evans & Co., which owned Haydock collieries, and spent many years shunting at its timber wharf on the Manchester Ship Canal at Acton Grange, as well as at the collieries at St Helens. Owing to the distance between the two sites, Haydock was authorised to run under its own steam over BR metals, and still carries its Railway Executive Registration plate.
Haydock continued working until railway operations at Acton Grange ceased in 1963 and, following storage at the National Coal Board’s Central Workshops, was presented to the National Trust in 1966 and moved to Penrhyn Castle.
IoWSR chairman Peter Taylor said: “We are grateful to the National Trust for placing Haydock in our care where the locomotive will further enhance our collection for the benefit of the wider community.”
The costs of preparation and transportation to the island have been shared between the National Trust and a group of railway members.