This locomotive was built in 1950 by the Hunslet Engine Company to the design used to supply to the Ministry of Defence and is thus regarded as an Austerity type locomotive.
See LNER class J94 for details.
The locomotive was purchased by the National Coal Board (NCB) and started its working life off at NCB in 1950 at Astley Green, Ladysmith & Bickershaw Collieries where it worked until 1978.
It was donated to the National Railway Museum in 1982 where parts were removed and used in the construction of the broad gauge replica Iron Duke.
After many years stored at the National Railway Museum in York the locomtive was re-assembled and travelled by road to become the first steam locomotive on site of the Ribble Steam Railway (RSR) at Riversway, Preston. That was in March 1998 and it was another year before the rest of the collection was moved to Preston.
The boiler of Respite has been found to be in good condition, and it is likely that this will be transplanted to Shropshire (Hunslet Works No 3793) in order to enable a speedy return to traffic of Shropshire.
In the mean time, the owner is making steady progress on the acquisition, restoration and machining of new components for Respite.
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 