Special weekend for Hunslet fans
To mark the 150th anniversary of the production of the first Hunslet locomotive, the
society is organising a special weekend in September – with an open invitation to take
part.
The dates earmarked for the event are Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20
and arrangements are in the hands of the club’s vice-chairman, Greg Marsden, who first
put forward the idea.
Greg said: “We would like to invite anyone interested to bring any 5in or 7-1/4in gauge
model that conforms to a Hunslet prototype – either standard or narrow gauge. In
addition, spectators would be most welcome.”
A limit will have to be placed on the number of locos that take part, but spread over two
days there should be plenty of opportunity.
However, to help keep the wheels turning smoothly and aid catering, it has been
decided that those interested should request an application form.
To be issued on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis, these can be obtained from Greg at
Amery House, Village Green, Tetney, Grimsby, Lincolnshire DN36 5NN. He can also be
contacted by email at [email protected].
The event will be held at the society’s headquarters at Waltham Windmill, on Brigsley
Road, Waltham, Grimsby DN37 0JZ.
On the Sunday, there will also be a classic car rally on the windmill site and the sixsailed windmill itself will be operating and open to visitors.
The Hunslet Engine Company was founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, and
its first engine, a standard gauge 0-6-0 saddle tank, ‘Linden’, was delivered to a railway
civil engineering contractor the following year.
The company went on to produce hundreds of locomotives for both home consumption
and export worldwide, with customers as far flung as China, India, Chile, Bolivia and
Australia, and built the last industrial steam engine in 1971 for export to Java.
Although the Jack Lane premises were closed in 1995, the famous name of Hunslet
lives on, under different ownership, the company continuing to build locomotives, mainly
diesel, from shunters to 100-ton vehicles.