Railway Herald
LNWR 0-4-0 Saddle Tank No.1439 arrived at the Ribble Steam Railway Centre on Friday 22nd January.
This locomotive was built at Crewe Works in 1865, by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). In 1919 the LNWR sold No. 1439 to Kynoch Ltd in Birmingham. It shunted wagons at their Witton Works for the next 45 years. Kynoch Ltd became part of ICI in 1926. In 1954, ICI gave the locomotive to the British Transport Commission for preservation. It has been repainted into its original LNWR lined green livery.
No. 1439 was one of 52 locomotives built to the same design between 1864 and 1892. The first locomotives were built to haul the Irish Mail between the town station and the pier at Holyhead. Others were built to work in docks and areas where small locomotives were needed. The LNWR renumbered No. 1439 several times. Christened as No. 3042, the locomotive worked for a while around Liverpool Docks. For this time it was fitted with a bell and converted to burn oil.
On loan from the National Railway Museum, York.
Photo - Matthew Darbyshire
Ribblesteam
