This R2 class locomotive was built in 1912 by Peckett & Sons and was delivered new to the ironstone quarries that James Pain was developing at Uppingham.
The quarry line connected to the LNWR Seaton to Uppingham branch.
The initial quarry, known as Glebe Pit was in full production by 1914 and shortly followed by a second quarry known as Adderley Pit. The quarries suffered in the post war slump in the steel industry and they closed in the mid 1920s. Shortly afterwards the locomotive was transferred to the James Pain quarries at Market Overton in Rutland.
The locomotive acquired the name Uppingham some time after the Head Master at Uppingham School refused permission for a Southern Railway Schools class locomotive to carry the name. The quarry line ran close to the public school and there is a view that there was no love lost between the Head Master and James Pain and that the locomotive was named Uppingham to deliberately annoy the school.
The locomotive worked at Market Overton until it was overhauled at Holwell Works in 1947 after which it was transferred to the Wirksworth quarries of Bowne & Shaw Ltd. By this time James Pain and Bowne & Shaw Ltd were part of the Stanton Ironworks Co.
The locomotive was purchased in 1974 upon retirement and a tentative restoration began as part of the Midland Railway Trust collection then housed at Normanton Barracks in Derby.
After many years in storage the locomotive only survived as a kit of parts until rescued and moved to the Rutland Railway in 1978. The locomotive is the oldest surviving steam locomotive to have worked in the ironstone quarries in Rutland.
The Museum (now know as Rocks by Rail) intends to rebuild the locomotive in its as delivered condition but it is unlikely at this stage that the locomotive will be returned to operational condition.
Preserved British Steam Locomotives 