Historic vehicle rolls back the years
A machine which helped build many of Northampton's highways but has been left to rot in a council depot for more than a decade, could soon be restored to its former glory.
The 110-year-old Allchin steam engine was built in 1899 by the Northampton-based firm William Allchin for the town's council.
It went on to help construct miles of roads across the town before being retired in 1954 when it took on a new role as the star of Northampton's annual carnival parade during the 1970s.
Despite being a much-loved sight on the town's roads for more than half a century, the engine, which is believed to be one of only a handful of its kind left in the world, currently sits in Northampton Borough Council's Westbridge depot in bits, swamped by bushes and weeds and almost rusted to ruin in the open air.
But steam engine enthusiasts Julian and Sharon Skinner, who live in Kingsthorpe, hope they can save the massive engine and return it to its glory days.
Mrs Skinner said: "It really is in a state at the moment, it's not the way it should be, it should be spotless.
"So we want to get it back on the road.
"This was the very first roller Allchin built and because there are only two or three left, it's really important it's brought back into use.
"It's a real part of Northampton's history."
After the roller was retired by the council in 1954, it was restored in the 1960s by council staff before being loaned to the Northamptonshire Ironstone Railway Trust in Hunsbury. When it needed repairing in the 1990s, it was taken to an engineering firm in Rushden, which promised to carry out the work for free.
But after they stripped the machine down, the company went into liquidation, forcing the council to take back the engine in bits.
Mrs Skinner said: "We've been trying to get hold of it since 2005 so we can restore it, because every day it's sitting out there, it's deteriorating more and more.
"It's going to cost a hell of a lot to get it back on the road, but as long as we can get it out of the bushes soon and start work on it, I think we can save it."
Steam experts at the Northampton & Lamport Railway Preservation Trust hope they can restore the engine in five years.
And Northampton Borough Council has said since the metal remains only have scrap value to them it is prepared to hand them over.
Members of the council's cabinet will discuss the plans next week.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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