Thanks in no small part to its appearances on Channel 5 series “A Yorkshire Steam Railway” and “Britain by Steam” probably the most famous steam tram engine in the UK now is Lucie, an engine which spent most of its working life in Belgium but is now resident at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway where it has been restored to operational condition.
Built in 1890 by the John Cockerill Company, the engine was originally numbered 8 in the fleet of the East Brussels Tram Company and it ran with sister engine 7 between Saint Jose Place and the Brussels Cemetery, Evere. During this period of its life it would have been used hauling passenger services, funeral trains and maybe freight workings. The line was taken over by SNCV who converted it to metre gauge and so the engine was sold on for further use elsewhere.
This saw it move to the Vielle Montage Mining Company where it in effect became an industrial steam locomotive and it was when there that it was first named Lucie. Further use came at a sugar factory in Silly. Then in 1987 she was purchased from an industrial supplies company in Belgium and returned to the UK (where it had been built). First port of call was Peak Rail and then the Middleton Railway with it running up until 2000. More recently and it was purchased by Paul Middleton (aka Piglet) the NYMR’s Traction and Rolling Stock Manager with his family and after restoration it returned to action once more – it even popped over to the East Lancashire Railway earlier this year for a brief loan.
Goathland Station on the NYMR (Aidensfield in Heartbeat or Hogsmeade in Harry Potter depending on your demographic!) is the location for these photos showing Lucie being shunted.
A view from the opposite platform of the locomotive.
A final look at Lucie at Goathland. (All Photographs by John Whittingham, 21st September 2023)
Can I just make the point that the loco was built in Belgium, not in the UK. John Cockerill, despite the man himself being born in Yorkshire, was actually a Belgian locomotive building company.