Restoration of an old workhorse

'Jack' at Armley Mills Industrial Museum

After a three year restoration project a historic, Hunslet-built, engine is again back on track in Leeds.

Jack, as the old steam locomotive is known, is back in full working order at Armley Mills Industrial Museum.

There were extensive boiler problems with the engine in 2006, which prompted a major refit.

The narrow track train was named by his builders at The Hunslet Engine Company (based at Jack Lane) during construction back in 1898.

Jack is a very rare example of a narrow gauge still in full working order over 100 years after being built. The engine had had a long and chequered history.

The locomotive was built for John Knowles Metal Box Limited, manufacturers of fire bricks and earthenware pipes, and was used at their Ashby de la Zouch works in Leicestershire, transporting clay materials to and from the kilns.

Jack was in active service there until 1957, when Jack was no longer needed. After being placed in storage for a year, Jack was then donated to Leeds Museums.

With no industrial museum in Leeds until Armley Mills opened in 1980, Jack was placed in storage for 22 years at a disused sub-station at Copley Hill in Leeds.

The locomotive deteriorated badly during its time in storage, and a scheme involving restorers in Bradford and Keighley was needed to return Jack to working order.

So in June 1984 Jack finally returned to his home town of Leeds and the new dual gauge track at Armley Mills.

The recent boiler repairs were carried out by Leeds City Council with the help of a grant from the Friends of Leeds City Museums.

Armley Mills was once the world's largest woollen mill and is now an industrial museum containing exhibits, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, that show the history of textiles, clothing and engine and locomotive manufacture in the area.

The museum also illustrates the history of cinema projections, including the first moving pictures taken in Leeds, as well as 1920s silent movies.