No.3 Pender

Fleet No:

Name:

Weight:

Year:

Wheel Arr.:

Manufacturers:

Works Number:

Last Operated:

Mileage:

Name Origin:

Cylinders:

Wheel Dia.:

No.3 

Pender

19 Tons, 10cwt

1873

2-4-0T

Beyer, Peacock

B.P.1255

September 1964

1,247,643

Sir John Pender

11 x 18

3 9

The third of the original batch of three locomotives delivered for the opening of the Peel Line on 1st  July 1873, this locomotive was originally intended to have been named Viking, but the name was changed to honour the name of a director of the company Sir John Pender M.P., (1819-1896) one of the original directors of the Railway Company.  The first locomotive No.1 Sutherland was famously named after chairman the Duke of Sutherland, with No.2 being named Derby.


It would not be until over a century later in 1993 that a locomotive would carry the name with the commissioning of diesel No.17 Viking.  It was little modified over the years but was the recipient of three different boilers in its working life, two new from Beyer, Peacock & Co., in 1888 and 1913, with a third being transferred from No.2 Derby in 1951 upon the latter's withdrawal from service, this in fact dated from 1893.


In 1925 the locomotive was involved in an fatal accident at Douglas Station which resulted in the death of the fireman.  The train failed to stop as it arrived, crashing through the buffers, and coming to rest in a flowerbed, the fireman was thrown from the footplate and suffered fatal injuries.  This incident is well known and ultimately resulted in the fitting of vacuum brakes to all the locomotives, postcard views of the accident can be seen below.


After withdrawal from traffic the locomotive was stored in the cavernous carriage shed at Douglas Station, a common fate with out of use locomotives, and was later repainted into a red livery and placed on display from 1969 until 1974 at the terminus.  It left the island in 1977 and bound for the Museum Of Science & Industry in Manchester where it was sectioned, it being discovered that the boiler and firebox were no longer in serviceable condition and the right-hand cylinder cracked. 


It was noted at the time that the fireman's side tank was removed for storage at the museum though the whereabouts of the second nameplate remain a mystery to this day;  other assorted fittings from the cab and elsewhere were taken prior to dispatch from the island.  Re-painted after sectioning in Brunswick Green, today the locomotive remains a central exhibit at the museum where the wheels still periodically, even if only operated by electricity.

Arriving at Castletown Station in 1953 with a short train of two carriages, typical of winter workings by this time; No.3 was not often seen on the south line in the summer months.

25th August 1925 and the fatal accident at Douglas Station which saw the fireman killed and the locomotive come to rest on the concourse. One of a series of postcards produced at the time.

Latter days in winter service, note the copper pipe snaking across the boiler barrel for steam heating requirements as the locomotive comes off shed at Douglas Station on March 1955.

25th August 1925 and the fatal accident at Douglas Station which saw the fireman killed and the locomotive come to rest on the concourse. One of a series of postcards produced at the time.

July 1980 and a close up showing the sectioning detail of the boiler tubes and barrel at the Manchester Science Museum where the locomotive remains displayed today.

April 1960 and latter days in winter service, note the copper pipe snaking across the boiler barrel for steam heating requirements as the locomotive comes off shed at Douglas Station.

April 1933 at Douglas Station and No.3 in definitive terms, with the Salter safety valves prominent. The livery at the time would ahve been dark green, note burnished handrails.

July 1980 and a close up showing the sectioning detail of the boiler, driving wheels and motion at the Manchester Science Museum where the locomotive remains displayed today.

No.3 was part of the display line-up of withdrawn locomotives in July 1973 when captured here during the Peel Line centenary celebrations where a display was created on the main platform.

No.3 was part of the display line-up of withdrawn locomotives in July 1970 when captured here in the former goods yard at Douglas Station in an approximation of the Indian Red livery.

July 1980 and a close up showing the sectioning detail of the dome and its iconic brass cosmetic cover at the Manchester Science Museum where the locomotive remains displayed today.

No.3 was part of the display line-up of withdrawn locomotives in June 1969 when captured here in the former goods yard at Douglas Station in an approximation of the Indian Red livery.