Hawthorn & Leslie 0-4-0ST Steam Locomotive 14, 1914

 

 This large boilered, four wheeled saddle tank steam locomotive (meaning the tank for the water is like a saddle - straddling the boiler like a rider sits on a horse) was built for industrial use by Hawthorn & Leslie of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1914. It was built to their 16 inch cylinder, four wheeled saddle tank locomotive design which was introduced in 1907, first delivered in 1908 and the last locomotive was delivered in 1954, 151 locomotives later.

   

 This example is Hawthorn & Leslie works number 3056, built for a stock order of 9th September 1913, the customer order was received on 15th January 1914 and finished on 22nd April 1914. The cost to Hawthorn & Leslie for making this locomotive was £1336, and sold for £1530.

 

It was ordered by Lambton & Hetton Colliers Ltd of Durham, who had a large industrial railway who used bigger locomotives than most collieries, including tender engines and much larger tank engines than No 14. In 1924 the company became Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd, and then in 1947 when the coal industry was nationalised became part of the National Coal Board. In 1960, No 14 went to work at coastal pits at Vane Tempest, Seaham and Dawdon before coming out of service in 1968. It was then preserved by the Beamish Open Air Museum and after being restored to use, including into it's original 1914 livery as seen here, it was put on static display before being moved to the Tanfield Railway where it is seen here, on display in the fantastic Marley Hill Shed.

 

Steam Tug 'Phoca', 1908

This is a model of the steam tug 'Phoca', built in 1908 and used on the River Thames

North Eastern Railway P2 Class Steam Locomotive 1678, 1904

This lovely photograph, a scan of an original postcard in my collection, shows P2 Class Locomotive 1678, built at Darlington Works for the North Eastern Railway in 1904. The P2 Class of locomotives were 0-6-0 tender engines, with all six wheels on the main part of the locomotive (the wheel arrangement excludes those on the tender) being coupled together to provide traction. 50 P2 Class locomotives were built, a larger-boilered version of the P1 Class locomotive, to haul longer and heavier freight trains following a fact-finding trip by the North Eastern Railway to the USA to see the railways there. A slightly modified version, the P3, which was nearly identical in appearance to the P2, was later introduced and 115 of these were built, proving the usefulness of this design. Redesignated the J26 and J27 Class respectively from 1923 onwards, they mostly served until the end of steam in the UK in the 1960's.

This particular engine, 1678, entered traffic in December 1904 and was then based at Newport shed until 1925 - the photograph is believed to have been taken at Newport

Midland Railway Suburban Third Class Carriage, 1914

 This is the wooden body of a unique Midland Railway Suburban 3rd class Carriage dating from 1914 - as the name implies, these were intended for suburban services, and only had 3rd class seating, which was the cheapest ticket available, and so was also the most common. This coach was number 851 when built at Derby Works, not far from where i'm sat writing this now, and is 48 feet long and built to Diagram 487. When the Midland Railway was amalgamated into the London Midland Scotland Railway in 1923, it continued in use, and was retired in 1947.

Unfortunately, despite being preserved by the Midland Railway Trust, it is stored outside at the Midland Railway Centre with a large number of other Victorian and Edwardian carriages, wagons and cranes and is unlikely to ever be restored - one historic Pullman coach dating from 1873 also left outside, with no plans of restoration, was destroyed by fire in a possible arson attack in March -  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-17509781

Rebuilding the 1912 Hetton Band Hall

At the Beamish Open Air Museum the rebuild of the 1912 built Hetton Silver Band Hall is now underway - the hall was originally built in 1912 for the Hetton-le-hole (near Sunderland, north-east England) Silver Band to practice in, the band itself formed in 1887. For more information on the project and to find out how to donate to the rebuilding, visit the link here; http://www.beamish.org.uk/rebuilding-hetton-band-hall/

Watch 'How Percy Won The Beauty Competition', 1909

A comedy film, in which a man named Percy decides to dress up as a woman to try and win a beauty competition - and he isn't the only man to have this idea!

Derby Tram 1, 1904

A typical Dick Kerr of Preston Tram as used in many towns and cities in the UK, Derby 1 was, as the number implies, the first of the new electric trams used by Derby Corporation Tramways. It was the first to be delivered and was used for driver training before the opening of the network on July 27 1904. The Derby tram network was of a slightly different gauge to most tramways - it's tracks were 4 feet wide instead of the standard 4 ft 8.5 inches, as used on the British railways.

The Derby trams operated until 1934, when they were replaced by Trolleybusses which had started to take over their services from 1932. Today, Derby 1 is preserved at the Crich Tramway Museum, Derbyshire, in original open top condition. It is a fine example of an Edwardian tram in original condition

In Affectionate Remembrance of the Derby Horse Cars, 1904

With the retirement of horse drawn trams when electric ones were introduced, the sense of occasion was marked by these postcards - not Derby specific, but issued to many towns and cities which were introducing electric trams almost identically, aside from the change of location and dates, with even the same image being used. The card reads;

'In affectionate remembrance of the Derby Horse Cars (London Road and Osmaston Road Sections) which succumbed to an ELECTRIC SHOCK July 28th 1904 after 25 years of faithful service

"GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN"'

Crossley 20/25 Tourer, 1914

This stunning large Edwardian Tourer was made by the firm of Crossley Motors, based in Manchester. Their large 20hp model became uprated to 20/25hp in 1912, and were well known for their quality, reliability and high speed of 55mph. They were quickly adopted by the Royal Flying Corps from their beginnings in 1912, and both the Tourer variant and a Tender (light truck) built on the 20/25 chassis were the standard vehicle of the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force. This example is preserved in Lancashire along with a Tender. This Tourer was built in 1914 and went to India to serve as a Royal Flying Corps Staff Car, and is still capable of travelling at 55mph, and did so to get to Stow Maries Airfield in Essex, an original WW1 Royal Flying Corps Home Defence Aerodrome 

World's first colour moving pictures discovered - British, and 1902!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19423951 - click the link to view the footage and the report, copied below. Exciting news, and beautiful images, in the news today and yesterday;

"The world's first colour moving pictures dating from 1902 have been found by the National Media Museum in Bradford after lying forgotten in an old tin for 110 years.

The discovery is a breakthrough in cinema history.

Michael Harvey from the National Media Museum and Bryony Dixon from the British Film Institute talk about the importance of the discovery.

The previous earliest colour film, using the Kinemacolour process, was thought to date from 1909 and was actually an inferior method.

The newly-discovered films were made by pioneer Edward Raymond Turner from London who patented his colour process on 22 March 1899.

The story of Edwardian colour cinema then moved to Brighton. Turner shot the test films in 1902 but his pioneering work ended abruptly when he died suddenly of a heart attack.

Now the film has been restored by the National Media Museum and is being shown to audiences for the first time.

The Race for Colour is broadcast on Monday, 17 September 2012 on BBC One South East and Yorkshire, at 19:30 BST and nationwide for seven days thereafter on the iPlayer"