Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn Works No 7681 Agecroft No 3 #1
by Gordon James
Title
Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn Works No 7681 Agecroft No 3 #1
Artist
Gordon James
Medium
Photograph - Photography Digital
Description
This locomotive was built by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn in 1951. Originally it was intended to work at Bolton power station but after a couple of years at the on loan to the Chadderton power station it moved to Agecroft in 1954. At Agecroft Colliery it became Agecroft No 3.
In 1957 the power station passed into the ownership of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB).
The engines became redundant when a conveyor belt was constructed to bring the coal supplies in directly from Agecroft colliery. Its last day of operation at Agecroft was in September 1981.
All three locomotives based at Agecroft have been preserved. They were all built by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn – Works Nos 7416, 7493 and 7681.
The locomotive was initially preserved at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester but was disposed of from there in 2000 when it moved to Long Marston in Warwickshire. It later moved to Swindon where it spent many years on static display at the Museum of the Great Western Railway.
The locomotive was later purchased by the Whitwell & Reepham Railway where it is being restored.
By August 2020 the boiler had been tested at the North Norfolk Railway and it was expected that the locomotive would return to steam at the Whitwell & Reepham Railway by the end of the year.
The locomotive returned to service at the Whitwell & Reepham Railway in February 2022.
Uploaded
May 27th, 2023
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