Chuffed to bits!

Andrew Stafford, owner of Special Equipment Ltd, Oldham, checking new phosphor bronze big end bearings

A STEAM locomotive which was once a workhorse at the old Agecroft power station is being restored with major help from a specialist Oldham engineering company.

The 28-ton Agecroft No1 engine was built in 1948, based on 1905 designs, and used by the British Electrical Authority at the Manchester power station until the early 1980’s.

It shunted coal from the now-demolished Agecroft Colliery to the power station, where its short wheelbase and sturdy design helped it negotiate sharp curves and rough track.

Agecroft 1 has been saved by the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, but when it arrived there it was filthy, rusting and in bits.

Now the Museum is appealing for more funds to help with the £120,000 restoration project.

Visitor donations have already raised over £3,000.

And Special Equipment Ltd, based in the United Mill in Suffolk Street, Oldham, which specialises in heavy machining and toolmaking work, is helping to restore it.

The company has been established in Oldham since 1958, and owner Andrew Stafford has worked there since 1979.

Andrew said: “We have done a fair bit of work for it already, and the engine can be seen in pieces in the power hall at the Museum.

“There are no plans or drawings for the engine, so the museum staff supply us with photos and we keep guessing.

“We have made brass circular windows, like ship’s portholes, for it from scratch, made new bearings in bronze and new rivets and bolts.

“The difficulty is this is all in imperial measurements, not today’s metric, and it is like the days when I was an apprentice.

“ You can’t just pick up a tool to do a job. We have been working on Agecroft 1 for 18 months to two years and we are still working on it.”

Eventually Agecroft 1 will carry passengers on the Museum’s rail line, and the aim is to have it running by the Transport Festival weekend on August 7 and 8.

The Oldham company has also worked on the replica Planet steam locomotive which regularly carries passengers at the Museum on Sundays and bank holidays. And Andrew and his engineers are also making parts for the Museum’s replica Avro F type the original of which was built at the Brownsfield Mill in Ancoats.