No. 1

No. 1 was built by Hawthorn Leslie Ltd. of Newcastle in 1923. It was the first of a batch of five similar locomotives built for the Associated Portland Cement Co. of Swanscombe, Kent. These locomotives provided the inspiration for Percy when Rev. W. Awdry wrote the Thomas the Tank Engine stories. No. 1 worked at Swanscombe until 1970 when it was acquired by the Gravesend Railway Enthusiasts Society, who moved it to the South Eastern Steam Centre at Ashford.

No. 1 was transferred to the Colne Valley Railway in June 1977 but the cost of restoring the locomotive to full working order was found to be prohibitive so it has been externally restored and is now a static educational exhibit.