LLW-Y-NON

Built by William B. Stocks of Manchester in 1936 for the Heatherfield Light Railway, the locomotive is an unusual combination of two (possibly even three) much older machines.
Bill Stocks was a imaginative character who managed to keep the line at Heatherfeild operational into the 1980s, although LLW-Y-NON had long since ceased to be operational.

On Bill’s death in 1988, the railway lifted and stock sold, LLW-Y-NON being obtained by a private collector. It changed hands twice before Rose acquired the locomotive in 1990.

LLW-Y-NON was put back into steam in 1995, although it failed regularly, mostly because of bad frame design at the rear. Considering the locomotive’s heritage, this was not surprising, but the frames failed catastrophically in 1999 and the engine was mothballed until a permanent solution could be found to the badly designed frames.

2009 found LLW-Y-NON in the workshops at Boot Lane with massively re-engineered frames, a new boiler & cab. Much thought was given to keeping the original character of the engine while creating a more structurally stable machine.
LLW-Y-NON returned to steam in 2014 and is now a regular performer at Candlebridge, always delighting the crowds and enthusiasts alike, with its peculiar charm and unusual looks.

As to what the original locomotives that Stocks may have used? They are almost certainly Fletcher Jennings cylinder castings, while the wheels seem to suggest a George England origin.
But it is unlikely that we will ever know for sure…

Specifications –
0-4-0 T
Cylinders – 6″ x 12″
Driving wheels – 24″ (dia)
Boiler pressure – 160 psi
Tractive effort – 2160lbs (@75%bp)

Operational status –
undergoing winter maintenance

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