Narrow gauge industrial locomotive, Handyman, has found a permanent home at the Statfold Barn Railway (Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust) following a permanent move from the Science Museum Group.
Handyman was moved by road from York ready for display at the Trangkil 50 weekend on the 12th and 13th June.
The 0-4-0 saddle tank was built in 1900 by Hudswell Clarke in Leeds and is just one of 1000s of small industrial locomotives that worked at factories, mines, and other sites around the UK.
Handyman spent most of its operational life moving ironstone in quarries across the East Midlands, but ended up at Scaldwell Quarry which closed in 1963.
The locomotive was bought by a group of enthusiasts who saved it from the scrapman, but it was never fully restored and was acquired by the National Railway Museum in 2008 to feature in a proposed railway construction display.
However, this project was not completed, and Handyman's purpose at the railway museum was already covered by Bauxite, a similar standard gauge locomotive that remains in the collection.
Handyman was listed along with 15 other items for transfer by the Science Museum Group in June 2020, and after assessment for suitability, the Science Museum Group Board of Trustees approved the transfer of Handyman to the Statfold Barn Railway.
Henry Noon, Trustee of Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust, said: “We are delighted to have Handyman at the Statfold Narrow Gauge Museum Trust. Not only does it add to our Hunslet and Hudswell Clarke theme it also adds to the narrow-gauge story being told in our dedicated Narrow-Gauge Museum, being our only 3` gauge locomotive. Handyman will now undergo a thorough cosmetic restoration to the same standard we applied with “Hodbarrow”.”
Andrew McLean, Assistant Director and Head Curator of the National Railway Museum, said: “This is a very positive development which will restart the restoration of Handyman which given the amount of work required and the resources available, would not be a viable project for the National Railway Museum. Transferring the locomotive to a new owner in a more appropriate setting, will ensure it can be restored and returned to public display for people to enjoy.”
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Let’s Hope it’ll make Quite a Addition to the Statfold Barn Railway, and its Collection & Fleet of other Narrow-Gauge Locos Galore.
I also remember Handyman being stored on the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway, from the late sixties into the seventies. I knew that it was 3 foot gauge and couldn’t be used on the railway there.
I believe that this locomotive was originally purchased for preservation by some of the first volunteers on the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway and resided at Cyfronydd station where I remember it in the sixties and early seventies.