Home Steam Locos No. 6 Peveril

Fleet No.: 6
Builders: Beyer, Peacock & Co., Manchester
Year Built: 1875
Works No.:   1524
Name: Peveril
Wheel Arr.: 2-4-0
Weight: 17t, 12cwt (As Built)
Re-Boilered: 1892, 1911, 1932
Service Mileage: 1,924,038 Miles
Status: Withdrawn
A one-off purchase in 1875 and of similar design to the two locomotives purchased the previous year No. 6 was named after a character in Sir Walter Scott's popular novel Peveril Of The Peak and saw extensive use on Peel Line for many years. She was withdrawn from service, having been station shunter at Douglas for a number of years, in the summer of 1960 and was stored in the running shed after withdrawal later moved with the other non-service locomotives to the carriage shed.  Working on reduced boiler pressure for the last few years of service she rarely ventured out of the environs of Douglas yard after 1956 according to the meticulous service records maintained by the company.
 
Drawn out of the carriage shed during April 1967 and repainted into the spring green livery then carried by service locomotives, she became one of the static display locomotives during the 1967 and 1968 at St. John’s Station.  With the closure of the Peel and Ramsey Lines in September 1968 she was moved back to Douglas Station and again stored in the carriage shed.  For the railway’s centenary celebrations in 1973 she was one of the display locomotives on the platform at Douglas Station, after which time she was stored for several years together with sister locomotive No. 5 Mona in Douglas carriage shed.

 

It was reported in Manx Steam Railway News in September 1979 that she was due to have been placed on long-term loan to the National Railway Museum in York, and the speculation was that she "…was to be removed from the island shortly…" but thankfully this idea never came to fruition though the reasons for this remain unknown.  So it was therefore that the locomotive languished at the rear of the old carriage shed, disturbed only by the occassional visit of the railway's fitters who were known to scavenge components from her to keep other locomotives in traffic.  One notable instance of this was the chimney which was removed and placed on No. 13 Kissack in 1976, although this was later replaced when the latter received a new cast chimney.
 

Eventually, and following a joint initiative from the railway's manager Robert Smith and the mainland group of our association, the locomotive was removed from storage and cosmetically restored by members of the Supporters' Association in the winter of 1993-1994 receiving the post-war deep red livery. It was originally based at Douglas Station on occasional display during the railway's numerous special event periods of the time including some runs to Port Soderick with No. 9 Douglas dragged behind a service locomotive for photographic purposes. However, when Manx Northern Railway No. 4 Caledonia (in 1993) and No. 1 Sutherland (in 1996) were removed from the railway museum in Port Erin for restoration, and the building was reconstructed, No. 6 was chosen to be placed on display there - when No. 4 Loch was removed for rebuild following the Supporters' Association "Unloch Your Cash" appeal. 
 

And so No. 6 is now a museum resident carrying the Indian red livery of the immediate post-war years. Sometimes considered as a restoration job by the railway, this has yet to be carried out but enthusiasts remain hopeful that this may happen one day. For now though, her short-term future is secured as a pride of place exhibit at the head of a train hauling the royal coach F.36 and governors' saloon F.75, complete with her I.o.M.S.R.S.A. special headboard. The museum is open daily when trains are operating and for a nominal admission charge you can view the locomotive close up, although sadly access to the footplate is denied to the visitor. The locomotive carried replica nameplates provided by the Supporters' Association whilst the originals remain in safe storage at head office.