80 Years of the Pocket Peckett
ALLOW me to give you advanced warning, dear reader, of a distinct amount of self-indulgence within the following feature. Whilst the telling of locomotive histories is a familiar part of The Railway Magazine’s editorial content, be them GWR ‘Castles’ or lesser known industrial types, this article is slightly different as the loco in question is owned by a member of The RM’s editorial team.
So although one could say that this is a text book case of the deputy editor abusing and exploiting his position, the fact that the now unique loco has led a varied and interesting existence, has its own following, and also turns 80 years old this month, will hopefully excuse the author for putting his loco in the spotlight.
The loco – Peckett 0-4-0ST Teddy (2012/1941) – is the last surviving example of the Bristol firm’s ‘Yorktown’ class, and is perhaps best-known for its associations with the famous Reverend E R ‘Teddy’ Boston and his equally well-known Cadeby Light Railway.
Visitors to Cadeby from the early 1980s through to its closure in 2005 cannot fail to have seen the Peckett, which stood sentinel outside the rectory for more than 20 years.
It is ironic in a way that in spite of this connection to a ‘man of the cloth’, this loco’s origins lie in the manufacture of munitions and weaponry for allied forces during the Second World War. That said, the ‘Yorktown’ type itself, with its 7in diameter cylinders and 2ft wheels, was created to serve an industry much less sinister –gas!
By the turn of the 20th century Peckett & Sons’ Atlas Locomotive Works in Bristol had developed a broad portfolio of industrial locomotive types, primarily of the saddle tank type and the majority being of the 0-4-0 and 0-6-0 wheel arrangements. The firm shipped its wares all over the world, producing standard and one-off loco types for a variety of gauges.
Standard components
In 1906 Peckett & Sons built 0-4-0ST No. 1096 for the Luchana Mining Company in Bilbao, Spain. Although constructed to the unusual gauge of 2ft 5½in, No. 1096 utilised a number of standard Peckett components used in earlier
