Britain’s lowliest locomotive?
As you’ll read about in this issue, I worked closely with ‘Uncle Mac’ (A. B. MacLeod) at Ian Allan Ltd, who had been the Southern Railway’s first. Assistant for the Isle of Wight. That post put ‘Mac’ in charge of the island’s motive power which was a motley bunch of inherited, mostly small, Steam locomotives. During Mac’s tenure, the Adams ‘O2’ 0-4-4Ts arrived and he made them more suitable for island use by fitting enlarged bunkers to reduce the need for frequent depot visits for coal.
Mac’s responsibility for the island’s motive power and the need for economy led to a scheme to avoid, a four-wheel human-powered ‘locomotive’ which was driven by two men, turning a handle arrangement. The crucial component was, I believe, the rear axle from an old Ford Prefect! Whether counts as a locomotive, I’m not sure. It may have removed the need to steam a locomotive by ‘steaming’ two men instead!
