Organised by Barrow Hill Engine Shed SocietyHalf Cab steam locomotive 41708 is synonymous with Barrow Hill Roundhouse. For most of its working life it operated at the nearby Staveley Works. It is now undergoing a comprehensive restoration that will see it in steam once again.
Like the building in which it spent its working life, Half Cab 1F 41708, a small steam shunting engine, is a unique survivor with an important story to tell.
41708 is the only surviving example of the 185 members of its class to be built at Derby from 1878 onwards. The 1F shunting engine is no railway superstar but, along with its home depot, Barrow Hill Roundhouse, it now provides a unique glimpse into the industrial backbone of the railways of Great Britain in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
This railway workhorse called several places home in its working life but the last 20 years or so were spent at Barrow Hill Roundhouse where it was serviced in between its shifts in the massive shunting yards of Staveley Ironworks.
In preservation the locomotive had a nomadic existence, being seen at railway galas and hauling trains on heritage railways up and down the country. One of its appearances during this period was in 1998 when it attended the Barrow Hill Gala which celebrated the reopening of the Roundhouse as a museum and heritage railway centre following the long battle to save it.
In 2005 41708 returned to Barrow Hill, initially for long term storage, but with the intention that it should one day become a permanent exhibit owned by the Roundhouse charity. This became a reality when the locomotive was purchased in October 2018.
Following its purchase detailed surveys were carried out to ascertain the condition of the locomotive and its boiler. These determined that a restoration to full working order was financially feasible. The locomotive is now at Tyseley Locomotive Works in Birmingham and its return to full working order is eagerly anticipated.
For more information on the 41708 overhaul project, please visit our website https://www.barrowhill.org/
The cost of 41708's restoration is £250,000. In order to secure the locomotive's future for everyone to enjoy, we need your donation! In return you will:
- Have your name on our "Half Cab Honours Board"
- Be one of the first to see 41708 in steam at Barrow Hill Roundhouse
- Enable regular steam trains to run again at the Roundhouse
- Be part of an unforgettable and unique chapter in the Roundhouse story
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