Surely it is time to build a full size working Jenny Lind locomotive - Yorkshire Post Letters

From: James Rogers, Rothbury Close, Harrogate.
The Yorkshire Post Letters
By The Yorkshire Post Letters
Published 18th Jul 2023, 11:45 GMT

I was very interested to read the article in The Yorkshire Post of July 8 about the model Jenny Lind locomotive.

The real Jenny Lind was built by the Leeds firm of E B Wilson in June 1847, and was the most famous and successful steam locomotive built in Leeds.

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Ten were built for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. A trial was made on the Midland Railway and was so successful the Midland ordered 25, which were delivered between September 1847 and November 1852.

The detailed model of the Jenny Lind, crafted in Leeds in around 1849 by local train driver Charles Wilson, has been part of the collection of model locomotives at Leeds Industrial Museum since at least the 1970s.The detailed model of the Jenny Lind, crafted in Leeds in around 1849 by local train driver Charles Wilson, has been part of the collection of model locomotives at Leeds Industrial Museum since at least the 1970s.
The detailed model of the Jenny Lind, crafted in Leeds in around 1849 by local train driver Charles Wilson, has been part of the collection of model locomotives at Leeds Industrial Museum since at least the 1970s.

In 1848 a Jenny Lind worked the 63 1⁄2 miles from Derby to Altofts junction north of Normanton in 68 minutes, an average speed of around 56 mph. Two were tested on the Great Northern Railway and proved so successful two were ordered.

Over 70 were built at the Railway Foundry in Leeds, their size increased over the years as more power was required.

The last three were built in 1860 for Commonwealth Railways in New South Wales, Australia and remained at work for 25 years.

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No Jenny Lind now exists. Since 1975 a number of full size working replicas have been built of early locomotives, for example Locomotion, Rocket, and Steam Elephant.

The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester built a full size working replica of Planet and is proposing a full size working replica of Lion, two early locomotives of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. Surely it is time to build a full size working Jenny Lind.

Related topics:HarrogateLeeds