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Fleet No.:
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9
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Builders:
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Beyer, Peacock & Co., Manchester
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Year Built:
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1896
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Works No.:
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3815
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Name:
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Douglas
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Wheel Arr.:
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2-4-0T
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Weight:
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17t, 12cwt (As Built)
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Re-Boilered:
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1909 (Ex-No. 8), 1912
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Service Mileage:
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912,717 Miles
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Status:
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Withdrawn
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This was the last locomotive to arrive from the Gorton Foundry in 1896 and today is the primary example of an unmodified fleet member. There are several modifications but, most significantly, she is the only locomotive on the line to retain her Salter safety valves (although No. 14 Thornhill retains these but is in private ownership). .Owing to her diminutive size and lack of any major modification the locomotive was withdrawn in 1959 by which time she had been reduced to light duties; other locomotives that had been rebuilt were favoured as service locomotives at this time. She was stored and cosmetically restored for the 1967 season into the spring green livery for display at St. John's and later Douglas Station prior to being placed into storage in the carriage shed at Douglas.
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In 1977 the Supporters' Association embarked on an ambitious scheme to return the locomotive to service, with the historical precedent that she was in largely original condition complete with Salter safety valves, smaller boiler, tanks, et al, but this plan was halted when the locomotive was sold to the Isle of Man Railway Society in 1978 by the newly-appointed management team.
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Having been stored for a number of years in the engine shed at Port Erin, she was partially repainted in 1988 into a non-standard brown livery (one which is thought to have been carried by some locomotives based on early colour photographs) with black/orange lining. Later she was fully painted, again in a non-standard green livery (the colour was previously used on the station building at Port Erin) with black/red lining which is the livery retained today. Her smokebox door went missing at some point and is now replaced with a wooden version.
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After periods on display during the heyday of the railway events between 1993 and 1996 most notably outside the museum at Port Erin with royal coach F.36 in 1993, the locomotive was moved back for storage in Douglas when the railway musuem was extensively rebuilt in 1998-1999 and not returned, currently in store at Douglas and not directly available to the viewing public. April 2012 saw an agreement made with the previous owners which saw the locomotive return to railway ownership.
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