How giant of industry finally came steaming back to life

Parts of the 15-ton beast – the last ever steam engine to run a British factory – were rusting away and no-one had a spare 50,000 to fund the labour-intensive restoration project.

But the retired joiner from Barkisland, near Halifax, now 60, persevered with the project and has finally seen it steaming again as it did during a working life of 80 years.

The sleeping giant has been brought to life at Rochdale's Ellenroad Steam Museum in a lottery-funded 48,000 makeover.

Mr Wilson can now look back with a sense of pride on his decision to get out his cheque book in 1988.

Being born in the 1950s, he was already interested in steam trains when he came across William Barker & Sons, a tannery in Otley, West Yorkshire, which relied for power on a steam engine made by Marsdens Engines in Heckmondwike in 1907.

On July 6, 1988, the engine fell silent and was destined for the scrapyard when Mr Wilson stepped in.

He bought the engine from John Barker to become the proud owner of a huge piece of machinery that was a throwback to the age of steam – just as the factory itself was, with its leather belts and overhead pulleys, all driven by steam.

"All I had to do was take the engine out – all 15 tons of it," he recalled.

"It was 21ft long, with a 10ft diameter flywheel that alone weighed nearly five tons."

Dismantling the mighty machine alone wasn't an option so Mr Wilson took advice from Alan Nightingale, a retired engineer at Marsdens of Heckmondwike.

"What he didn't know about steam engines was not worth knowing. On seeing it he declared it to be "nowt but a pup" – in his time at Marsdens he had worked on and installed engines weighing well over 200 tons."

The pair worked on it for 22 days until it was in small enough sections to get it out of the doorway and on to a wagon.

"Three wagon loads and two days later – and another 500 cheque – it all arrived at Sowerby Bridge where it was to be stored for 21 years."

Some of the parts were too big to store inside and so had to be covered and left in the open.

Friends may have considered him a little eccentric to spend around 1,000 on big lumps of metal but Mr Wilson always saw the potential of his purchase.

Owning it was the second best thing to having your own steam locomotive and, he says, he snapped it up because "you don't get a second chance of owning a steam engine".

By late 2008, 20 years after he bravely took ownership of the engine, it was clear that decisions had to be made about its future – if it had one at all.

"Rust had started to affect many parts of the engine, especially the parts stored outside. Coats of oil or grease do not last forever.

"A friend mentioned that Ellenroad Steam Museum, just down the M62 in Lancashire, was looking at the possibility of acquiring another steam engine to add to the two already there, and it was only one stop down the motorway from where the engine was stored."

After speaking to Museum Society chairman Bernard Rostron, museum volunteers "came to look at the engine in all its rusty glory", he recalled.

Thankfully they liked what they saw.

"It's nice to be wanted, even if it is by a bunch of Lancastrians!

"I soon discovered that half the volunteers were Yorkshiremen anyway; they said they were there to make sure the job was done right."

Most of the work was carried out by volunteers, with re-grinding work carried out by Yorkshire firm Kemp Grinders.

In less than a year the engine was up and running again after a 21-year rest.

Bernard Rostron says it was a special moment to see it working

"The first impression when you walked around it was 'never, never'. But the engineers could visualise it and, bit by bit, it has gradually got back in shape. It's a beautiful piece of engineering."

n It can be seen running on special "steaming days" at Ellenroad museum, including tomorrow and the first Sunday of every month. Details at ellenroad.org.uk