Home - Location - Timetable - Facilities - FAQs - Events - Stately Trains
News - Photogalleries - Digital Archive - History - Shops - Departments Stocklist - Projects - Signalling - Membership - Volunteering - Links
AnnAnn is a vertical boilered Sentinel locomotive which was built in 1927, and carries works number 7232. She is believed to be the oldest original example of a Sentinel locomotive. All her working life was spent at British Tar Products at Irlam, near Manchester, until withdrawl round about 1969. An attempt to overhaul this tiny sentinel took place during the 1980s, when a school metalwork teacher took it to the school as a project for some of his students. When the students left, the loco returned to Embsay.
At Embsay she lay derelict and then partly restored for a total of thirty six years until she was taken on by Ian Douglas, the railway's Treasurer, as his own project in 1995. The return to steam was achieved in early 1998 (seen in the top photograph, taken by Dave Oughtibridge), and since then it has been used in winter to provide a source of carriage heating in the mornings so that passengers can enjoy warm coaches. Ann is well suited to this as steam can be raised in forty five minutes from cold, or about fifteen minutes if the fire is lit the night before. Besides this duty, Ann will also act as station pilot, and possibly even haul some short goods trains. There is another web page with some different photographs of Ann, as well as more of its history before arriving on the line. This can be found at: http://www.ncordingley.demon.co.uk/Ann/ann.htm
More photos of Ann at Embsay
The 2004 Harvest of Steam saw Ann operational once more, and hauling her first passenger train... ever! Because Ann is not fitted with a vacuum brake, the visiting Peckett provided the vacuum, and Ann's crew had a brake valve in the cab. This operation reflected the early days of operation, prior to obtaining an LRO. (c) Tim Warner.
|