''Nancy'' is a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

steam locomotive. It was built by

Avonside Engine Company The Avonside Engine Company was a locomotive manufacturer in Avon Street, St. Philip's, Bristol, England between 1864 and 1934. However the business originated with an earlier enterprise Henry Stothert and Company. Origins The firm was original ...

in 1908 for industrial service. It was in use until 1961, when it was acquired for preservation. After many years of effort and long storage, it was returned to working order in April 2019, and was then moved to its current owners, the Cavan and Leitrim Railway in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Industrial history

''Nancy'' was bought in 1908 by the Stanton Ironworks Company's for use on their Brewer's Grave Tramway connecting to the Woolsthorpe ironstone quarries in Leicestershire. The locomotive was later sold to the Eastwell Ironstone Company for use on their tramway at

Eastwell, Leicestershire Eastwell is a village and ecclesiastical parish in Leicestershire, England. The village's name means 'eastern spring/stream'. For the purposes of administration Eastwell is part of the civil parish of Eaton that, in turn, forms part of the ...

. She ran there until 21 October 1959, when the tramway shut down, though the line was kept intact as a standby to the replacement road system. On 28 August 1960, the Birmingham Locomotive Club ran a farewell train, hauled by ''Nancy''.

Preservation

''Nancy'' was acquired in 1961 by a group in

Watnall Watnall is an area in the Borough of Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire, England. It is part of Greasley civil parish, and is located one mile north of Kimberley. It is in the Nuthall West and Greasley (Watnall) ward of Broxtowe Council. The village ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

with a view to preservation. In 1972, the loco was sold to Lord O'Neill for his

Shane's Castle Shane's Castle is a ruined castle near Randalstown in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, having been destroyed by fire in 1816. The castle is on the north-east shores of Lough Neagh. Built in 1345 by a member of the Clandeboy O'Neill dynasty, it was ...

Railway in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. ''Nancy'' was bought by the

Cavan & Leitrim Railway The Cavan & Leitrim Railway was a narrow gauge railway in the counties of Leitrim and Cavan in northwest Ireland, which ran from 1887 until 1959. Unusually for Ireland, this narrow gauge line survived on coal traffic, from the mine at Arigna, ...

in 1997, still in unrestored condition. In 1999, the locomotive was moved to

Alan Keef Alan Keef Ltd is a British narrow gauge railway engineering company which manufactures, overhauls, and deals in narrow gauge locomotives, rolling stock and associated equipment. The Limited Company was formed in 1975 at Cote, Oxfordshire, Cote, ...

in England for restoration to working order. Although work began there, it came to a halt owing to a downturn in the Irish economy and the loco was then stored for a number of years. The work took twenty years to complete, and ''Nancy'' steamed for the first time on 23 March 2019. The chance of

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

gave increased impetus to this work, as shipping the locomotive back to Ireland from an England which had by-then left the EU gave a risk of attracting import duties or VAT. The locomotive was shipped back to Ireland, and was run on the restored Cavan and Leitrim Railway in April 2019.

References

{{Commons category, Nancy (locomotive), ''Nancy'', position=left Individual locomotives of Great Britain Preserved narrow gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain 0-6-0T locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1908 Avonside locomotives 3 ft gauge locomotives Industrial locomotives of Great Britain