mrg - peckett

0-4-0 DM "Austins No1" Peckett (built 1958 in Bristol, works no 5003).
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In the late 1950's, Peckett attempted to diversify their business by entering the growing diesel market. Only five diesel locomotives were built of which "Austins No 1" is the only 0-4-0 survivor.
(An 0-6-0DM, works no. P5014, built in 1959, is owned by National Power and preserved at Aberthaw Power Station in South Wales.)
The locomotive was built in 1958 but it was not sold until 1961. For the next 10 years it worked for the West Yorkshire steel stockholders, James Austin & Son (Dewsbury) Ltd - thus the name. In 1971 the locomotive was no longer required by them and was moved to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway on permanent loan, where it worked regularly until being withdrawn in the early 1990's. Following discussions between the Middleton Railway, the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and the locomotive owners in 2001, "Austins No 1" was moved to the Middleton Railway where it underwent various modifications including the fitting of vacuum brake equipment to allow the working of passenger trains.
Currently (2015) operational.