On Thursday I paid a visit to the Railway Museum in York to see this latest arrival.
This rather large narrow gauge locomotive started life at the works of Sharp, Stewart and Company, of Glasgow. It was built for service in South Africa with the Cape Government Railway.
The railways of South Africa have their origins in the foundation and growth of diamond mining companies by European immigrants. The need to connect the inland mines to the coast for the export of diamonds meant that the railway system in South Africa grew massively in the late 19th century.
This locomotive worked for over 70 years, mainly in South Africa, but it finished it's working life in Zambia. It was donated to artist and conservationist David Shepherd by the then-President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda. Shepherd had donated a helicopter to Zambia in 1974 to help prevent poaching. He received No 390 in return and brought it back to Great Britain in 1975.
Eventually David Shepherd gifted to the Railway Museum. It was until recently on display at Locomotion at Shildon, but was quite recently moved to York, and is on show in part of the museum with a distinctly international feel, with a Chinese steam locomotive, a Shinkansen coach from Japan, and a French built Eurostar power car.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
For those of you who thought it looked like a toy train, there is quite a simularity, with relatively small wheels and boiler, and a proportionally very large cab, boiler and headlight.
It is built with much larger proportions than a typical narrow gauge locomotive built to work on a UK railway. It has a simple basic rugged design that was typical of an industrial railway.
You will find the original 'Rocket' in an alcove in the station hall at the museum, though it looks quite different to it's original condition due to modifications in it's early years. There is also a replica in the great hall, partly sectioned to show the internal workings. There is also a third version that is a working replica, though I didn't see that on this visit. There you go, spoilt for choice on the version of 'Rocket' that you see!
Ian
August 7th, 2022
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Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
For those of you who thought it looked like a toy train, there is quite a simularity, with relatively small wheels and boiler, and a proportionally very large cab, boiler and headlight.
It is built with much larger proportions than a typical narrow gauge locomotive built to work on a UK railway. It has a simple basic rugged design that was typical of an industrial railway.
Ian
You will find the original 'Rocket' in an alcove in the station hall at the museum, though it looks quite different to it's original condition due to modifications in it's early years. There is also a replica in the great hall, partly sectioned to show the internal workings. There is also a third version that is a working replica, though I didn't see that on this visit. There you go, spoilt for choice on the version of 'Rocket' that you see!
Ian