No.17 Viking
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No.17 Viking was built by Schöema of Dortmund, Germany in 1958 as one of three identical units. It was purchased by the railway in 1992 as a replacement for railcars No.19 and No.20 which at the time were in bad need of attention.
Arriving on the island and performing a number of successful test trains, it was found that the locomotive was capable of substituting a steam engine and could generally maintain line speed. As part of the Year Of Railways in 1993 it received the name Viking, a name originally to have been allocated to No.3 Pender back in 1873 but deferred and was the subject of a competition to name it (despite rumours nameplates had already been made!)
Outshopped in the pre-war Brunswick Green livery which No. 10 G.H. Wood also carried, it was lined out in orange and black. To quoth the experts of Wikipedia, it was beset in latter years by problems through lack of maintenance and was repainted into Spring Green after an opinion voiced in Manx Steam Railway News that "there should be a Spring Green one" (!) Normally on non-passenger services, the unit did see some use in traffic during the 2010 and 2011 seasons owing to steam locomotive failure; it last saw use during the 2012 Manx Heritage Transport Festival when it failed and was withdrawn.
It is currently stored in the carriage shed at Douglas Station, with the announcement in 2012 that the railway was to obtain a new £750,000 new-build, it was in December of 2012 that diesel-electric No.21 was delivered and trialled. No.17 remains in storage.
Seen in August of 1993 after commissioning and naming outside the workshops at Douglas Station complete with black and vermilion lining ou and aluminium nameplates.
Port Soderick Station with a special working using the Bar Set consisting of saloons F.31, F.35 and F.32 during a Year Of Railways event period in July 1993.
July 2011 at Port Erin Station and No.17 on the bay platform ready for departure with the Viking Venture as part of the Manx Heritage Transport Festival that year.
September 2021 and the current location of No.17, the rear of the carriage shed at Douglas Station, where Empress Van F.28 is also in storage at the moment. When will she return...?
In July 1992 the unit arrived and was unloaded outside the old carriage shed at Douglas Station stil retaining the original fleet number and dark green unlined livery.
July 2011 saw the Manx Heritage Transport Festival take place, with No.17 heading the Viking Venture seen here passing The Level; this station would be restored by the Association in 2013.
In August 2009 at Douglas Station as Dirty Diesel complete with plywood face as part of a Friends Of Thomas weekend where No.17 was used for shuttle services. These popular events no longer happen.
In model form produced by Accucraft U.K. this version of No.17 is popular with garden railway modellers and part of a range of Isle of Man-based models by the company.
During an enthusiats event in July 1994 No.17 was hard at work banking a heay train out of Ballasalla Station, a long tradition maintained, albeit with a modern twist.
Banished to the very back on the workshops complex in September 2019, stored at Douglas Station since withdrawal in 2011, No.17 is now in the carraige shed.
July 1993 and as part of the Year Of Railways No.17 was deployed to bank a heaby train, seen here on the climb at Ellenbrook. Duties such as this were ideally suited to the locomotive.
No.17 with the fire train consisting of bowsers mounted on ballast hopper F.65 at Port Soderick Station in the summer of 2011, note the bonnets are removed.