Former Steam Engines
Annie: 945
Annie was built by Andrew Barclay Co in 1904 and first arrived at Isfield when Mr Millham brought her in good overall condition for use on passenger turns along with the WD 2-10-0 Dame Vera Lynn, a real little and large combination when these two engines came together!
She started out life working for S.J Claye Ltd of Long Eaton in Derbyshire to work their coal and fireclay mines, her 12 inch cylinders proved to be more than enough power for the heavy coal wagons in the Pitt and was later renumbered number 1 in their loco fleet. In 1930 she was transferred to Long Eaton where she was sent for a full overhaul by Charles Roberts and later sold on to Yates, Duxbury & Sons paper mill at Heap Bridge in Heywood, Lancashire where she remained until 1974, at this point she was one of the last steam engines to still be operational for industrial duties in the north west of England. (copyright Richard Bailey)
She was then sold and preserved to the Bury Transport museum where she stayed for a number of years as a static display; this is where she picked up the name Annie which resides from a Peckett that was due to be scrapped, so the name was transferred to her to save the plates.
Annie served Mr Millham and the lavender line for 14 long years in-between overhauls until she was passed into private hands where she was stripped, fully rebuilt and gradually put back together. She steamed for the first time in the spring of 2004 on a goods train weekend; by this point her current owner had chosen a bright and unique brown colour scheme to give her a fresh look in her new lease of life. After starring in the vintage weekend of 2004 along with Kitson 0-6-0 Austin 1 she was taken away from the railway in 2005 due to unforeseen ownership problems and moved to the Chatham dockyards along with Horace the crane. After spending 4 years at the Chatham dockyard railway working along side resident engines Achilles and Ajax she was painted into an industrial black colour scheme and eventually sold off to the Whitwell & Reepham railway in Norfolk where she has stayed ever since
