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No. 140
Movie of 140 at Foxfield as filmed by Pete Burke. Should play in your default player in a new window when clicked on. (472K)
No. 140 is a PLA 0-6-0T, built by Hudswell Clarke (works number 1821) in 1948.
It has 16" cylinders outside the frames and before coming to the
Railway it worked for NCB Horden Colliery, County Durham, but this picture
was taken whilst it was at work at Thrislington Colliery in 1968.
The loco arrived at Embsay in the 1970s in a very rusty condition reflecting a long period out of use. Consequently,
restoration of the loco was thorough, with a lot needed doing, including the manufacture of new side tanks. As can be seen
from this picture taken inside the shed at Embsay during the process of the overhaul, it was originally going to be restored
to lined maroon livery as No. 140, but things changed!
At the time of its restoration, one of the certified 'Thomas' locomotives was withdrawn, meaning that there was a shortage
of these little blue locomotives. A decision was made to finish 140 as Thomas until the railway's new Thomas, formerly
'Dorothy', was completed. In the adjacent photo, the process of 'Thomasisation' has commenced - the
lower half is blue!
The result of this is that the railway had a very popular and powerful Thomas, which went to a lot of other railways, clocking
up a very respectable mileage! With the completion of Thomas, 140 was able to enter traffic properly
at Embsay, where she has proved a powerful loco, but not necessarily the smoothest! During one Thomas event, she was able to
take the 6-coach train with little hassle. For the 2004 Harvest of Steam she was speedily
repainted into a lined black livery, much to the surprise and delight of her owner who knew nothing of this!
A brief jaunt to the Foxfield Railway was organised to take part in their gala in 2005 - photos from which can be found in
the Charters section. 140 is came back into the Railway's fleet and was expected to be the main
engine for the 2006 season. Unfortunately, the replacement of the smokebox door took far longer than anticipated, but she
returned to service for the 2006 Santa Specials. Copies of the original worksplates were also fitted.
140 has also had a brief visit to the East Lancashire Railway as part of their Anniversary celebrations.
However she was withdrawn shortly afterwards and now awaits a full 10-yearly overhaul which will focus principally on the boiler
140 on the East Lancs going through its very first tunnel (as far as we know) with a train - not working particularly hard. Filmed by Aaron Boyce.
More photos of 140 at Embsay
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140's first run - seen in steam on the coal dock at Embsay still lacking the dome cover.
(c) Charles Adams.
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140 is seen here during the 1999 vintage
weekend, entering platform 2 at Embsay with Stephen Middleton's restored
GER saloon, No. 14. Date: 16/6/99.
(c) M. G. Riley.
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140 is seen at Prior's Lane ready for dispatch to another railway's Thomas
event, with Wheldale in the background having
returned shortly before. Date: 12/5/01
This was the focus of a caption competition, the winner being:
William Smith - "....7....8....9....10 coming ready or not!!" with runners up:
"I'm sure there was a coach between us, James!" - Kevin Ireland. and
"To avoid too much attention from the public, Thomas has had his appearance drastically altered by plastic surgery" - Rob Falconer.
(c) M. G. Riley.
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The photo shows 140 up in the air having its axleboxes attended to following overheating which was caused by a broken bolt
on one spring hanger. This was half way through the loco's first block of working on the line, after many flawless Thomas appearances.
(c) Tim Warner.
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140 having arrived in Embsay station, just about to run round the train.
(c) Dave Umpleby.
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The Easter 2002 Day out with Thomas event
saw 140 repainted in black (within its red lining), so that there was only one
'Thomas' on the line - the new Thomas was in use on
the coal dock, and repainting 140 meant it could be used on trains.
Annie (as Percy) double headed all weekend, partially to
try and improve the quality of 140's ride! This will be attended to by replacing
the springs at some point.
(c) Tim Warner.
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Both Thomases together! No.8 rests on the coal dock whilst 140 moves past light engine. When No.8 is
fully run in, 140 should be repainted into lined maroon livery.
(c) Rob Daniels.
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140 at the 2004 Harvest of Steam after repainting into black, and then in the
2005 event. She is very capable of putting in good performances at events such as these - usually
memorable for the fire throwing tenancies!
(c) Tim Warner (l) / William Lister (r).
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