Festiniog Railway 0-4-0TT ‘Prince’ Appears at Alstom’s Greatest Gathering

Today marks the beginning of Alstom’s sold-out charity event, the Greatest Gathering, which takes place at its rolling stock factory on Litchurch Lane in Derby.

The event, which forms part of a year-long celebration of Railway 200, runs from 1–3 August, and will see the largest gathering of rolling stock from the past, future and present the world has ever seen.

Included on site this weekend is the Festiniog Railway 0-4-0TT ‘Prince’, a 2 ft narrow gauge steam locomotive.

The Festiniog Railway 0-4-0TT is one of six steam locomotives built by George England and Co. for the Ffestiniog Railway between 1863 and 1867.

The model on display, ‘Prince’, was first overhauled in 1881, with a new half-open cab added in 1890.

A full cab was added in 1892 along with a new boiler and saddle tank before its retirement in 1936.

‘Prince’ was the first steam locomotive to be restored in 1955 following years of preservation, with new frames and cylinders fitted in 1962 before being withdrawn in 1968.

Ultimately, Prince was brought back into operation with with an oil fired propulsion system in 1980 before being converted back to a coal firing unit in 2013.

It has been provided for display at the Greatest Gathering by Festiniog & Welsh Highland Railways.