Peter Pan is a 2 ft gauge Kerr Stuart Wren Class 0-4-0ST saddle tank steam locomotive who is named after the J.M. Barrie character of the same name.
History[]
Peter Pan was built by the Kerr Stuart & Co Ltd under works No. 4256 in 1922 for use on a construction project in Essex. It was to their standard "Wren" type design, the smallest locomotive in their catalog and was intended for use as a contractors locomotive.
In 1925, work was starting on the "Parracombe Deviation" and the County Surveyor, Mr R. M. Stone, was looking for some economical motive power. He bought four of the Wren locomotives for the project. A 2' gauge railway was built down from the nearby Beacon Down Quarry, across the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway and along to the site of the new road. The Parracombe deviation opened in 1927.
In 1929 R.M. Stone was looking to increase the output of the roadstone quarry at Wilminstone near Tavistock and bought two more of the R.H. Neal locomotives from the dealer Thos.W Ward who had acquired them on completion of the Essex contract. These two became No. 113 "Pixie" and No. 114 "Peter Pan".
Sometime around 1950, "Peter Pan" was transferred to Beacon Down to substitute for the Ruston & Hornsby diesel locomotive that normally worked there but was in need of repair. By 1951 "Peter Pan" was standing derelict in a garden in Bromsgrove and remained so until 1972 when Graham Hall found the locomotive and purchased it for restoration. Later, Peter Pan would somehow make its way to Canada in 1986 to participate in Expo 86.
Nowadays the locomotive is privately owned and based at the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway but follows in its tradition of being frequently moved from site to site as necessary.
Trivia[]
- This engine was the basis for Luke the Pea Green Engine from Thomas and Friends.
