Peckett ‘Yorktown’ Class 0-4-0ST No. 2012 ‘Teddy’ will be one of the operating locomotives at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum this summer!
One of the smallest standard gauge steam locomotives ever built, ‘Teddy’ will be used on passenger steam trains and steam driver experience days at the museum from May to early August.
Built for the Ministry of Supply in 1941, ‘Teddy’ went to the Royal Ordnance Factory at Creekmoor, Dorset, but its time there was brief, and by 1944 it had moved to another ROF at Llanishen, near Cardiff, where it saw the rest of its career.
In 1959, the locomotive was sold to JW Hardwick & Sons, a dealer in Surrey, and then on to Bill Lees of Godalming for preservation in 1967, having lost part of its cab and buffers.
It was again sold in 1972 to Reverend E R ‘Teddy’ Boston, who moved it initially to the Market Bosworth Light Railway at Shackerstone.
Here it was restored to working order and adorned with ‘Herbert’ nameplates (from an old machine tool), but it was too small to be of practical use and the Peckett was moved to Teddy Boston’s Cadeby Light Railway in July 1982.
Following the closure of the CLR in 2005, and having stood idle for more than 20 years, No. 2012 was sold again, and it left Cadeby for restoration to full working order.
Its next home was the Lavender Line, where it made its first moves in late 2007 and received the name ‘Teddy’ after its famous former owner.
For a while, it was the mainstay of Lavender Line operations (even visiting the Mid Hants Railway) but again its small size saw it displaced by larger engines.
In early 2011, the Peckett passed into the hands of its current owner, and has spent the last few years at railways including the National Railway Museum, York, and the Chasewater Railway.
Anyone interested in a full list of operating dates at Locomotion: The National Railway Museum or in obtaining more details, can visit nrm.org.uk/locomotion.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
