The Lake Railway Locomotives

There are three steam locomotives on the Lake Railway , and a fourth engine called Una is kept, in full working order, in the Slate Museum . To maintain it in good condition it may occasionally be seen operating on the Lake Railway . Some details of the regular engines are as follows:

No. 1 ELIDIR. Built by Hunslet, No. 493, in 1899, and delivered new to Dinorwic Quarry. It first carried the name Enid , this being the name of the highest gallery in the quarry, but after some years it was renamed Red Damsel , in honour of a racehorse. Taken out of use in 1957, the Quarry company started to overhaul it but, due to the decline in trade, this work was never completed. Thus when purchased by the Lake Railway in 1969, it was in a dismantled state and the nameplates had vanished. Work started on the repairs in 1970, but as so many parts were completely worn out they had to be renewed and it was over twelve months before the loco was ready for testing. During the overhaul a cab, which had originally belonged to another engine called Irish Mail , was fitted. Finally, the name Elidir was chosen, this being the name of the mountain which gave rise to the quarry and thus, indirectly, made the Lake Railway possible.

No. 2 THOMAS BACH . Hunslet No.849, built in 1904 and delivered new to the Dinorwic Quarry. Originally running as simply No. 7 , this locomotive also later received the name Wild Aster after a racehorse. When purchased by the Lake Railway in 1969 it was in a worn-out state, having last worked in the quarry some ten years earlier. Completely rebuilt in our own workshops, it returned to service in 1988, now carrying the name Thomas Bach ('Little Thomas'), the nickname of its regular driver in quarry days.

No. 3 DOLBADARN. Hunslet No. 1430, built in 1922. This was one of a pair of locomotives supplied new to the harbour at Port Dinorwic for shunting on the quays. Here it was simply known as No. 2 but, in 1936, it was transferred to the quarry at Llanberis, and in 1946 the name Dolbadarn was fitted. The engine worked in the quarry until 1967, being one of the last steam engines to work in a slate quarry in Britain . After purchase by the Lake Railway in 1969, it was found possible to complete the necessary repairs in time for the opening of the first section of the railway in 1971. This locomotive makes an interesting comparison to the other Hunslets on the railway - notice the deep buffer-beams at each end, and the dome in the centre of the boiler. A new boiler was fitted in 1996 and after an extensive overhaul she returned to service in 1997.

No. 7 TOPSY is a diesel locomotive that is occasionally used on passenger trains. It was built by Ruston Hornsby in 1961 (no.441427) and came from Bestwood Colliery, Nottingham and has been fully overhauled and rebodied in our own workshops.

No. 8 TWLL COED is a diesel locomotive, which is used only very occasionally on passenger trains. It was built by Ruston Hornsby in Lincoln in 1952 (no.268878) and it worked at various locations, hauling trains of ammunition for naval ships, including on the Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway in Kent . It came to Llanberis from a scrapyard at Wood Pit Colliery in Lancashire in 1976, and has been completely overhauled and rebodied in our own workshops.

Other Ruston-built diesel locomotives that may be seen at work occasionally include:

No. 11 GARRETT, built in 1939 (No. 198286)

No. 12 LLANELLI, built in 1961 (no. 451901)

These engines are basically unrebuilt and are used principally for maintenance work, particularly in winter months and in connection with the underground cables routed beside the rail track.

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