North Staffs No. 2 to steam again at Foxfield?

Unique North Staffordshire Railway ‘New L’ Class 0-6-2T No. 2 could return to steam at a new home, the Foxfield Railway. Sold by the LMS in 1937 to Manchester Collieries for use on the Walkden system, it has a solid pedigree both on the main line and in industry. Currently at the National Railway Museum’s ‘Locomotion’ in Shildon, No. 2, or as it was named under colliery ownership, will initially go on display in the exhibition building at Blythe Bridge. However, a detailed assessment is planned, with a view to launching an appeal for a full overhaul. Anthony Coulls, senior curator at the National Railway Museum, said: “We feel that the Foxfield Railway is a very appropriate home, as it is a locally significant item built in Stoke and fits in with the growing collection of NSR rolling stock. It fits the industrial and colliery ethos at Foxfield, the profile of which has been raised by the Knotty Coach Trust.” The locomotive as it stands today is a combination of two ‘New L’ Class machines, with the current frames understood to be from classmate No. 72, later The merger took place during an overhaul at Walkden, where a new boiler was also fitted. The potential for the restored locomotive to carry both identities at some point has already been mooted. It is a rare example of a locomotive working in industry carrying its pre-grouping guise, having been restored to NSR Madder Lake livery at Crewe Works in 1960 to take part in Jubilee celebrations in Stoke-onTrent. It returned to regular use at Walkden, where it worked until 1965.