This locomotive was built by the Hunslet Engine Copmpany as one of a number of identical engines purchased to work at the South Kirby Colliery near Barnsley. It was given the name Kinsley.
The locomotive was a prototype for the Hunslet designed Austerity 0-6-0ST built in large numbers for the War Department from 1943. It differs from the latter design in that it has 16 inch cylinders rather than 18 inch on the later design. The wheels were 3 feet 9 inch compared with 4 feet 0½
The South Kirby Colliery dates back as far as 1881 and it survived until 1988 when it was closed along with a number of other pits.
The locomotive ended its working life some year before the colliery closed as it was considered to be redundant in 1974 following the conversion of South Kirby to merry-go-round working.
It was then purchased for preservation and moved to Steamport at Southport. Steamport had started in 1973 as a preservation centre in the old Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway engine shed at Southport. Here it was restored and given the name Fitzwilliam as it was discovered that the tanks on the locomotive had previously been on an engine of this name.
After a number of years service at Southport, Kinsley was re-sold..
The locomotive was moved to the Ribble Steam Railway in April 1999, and the work to bring it back into service re-started again in 2004.
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Preserved British Steam Locomotives 