Kerr Stuart 4421

Kerr Stuart was a locomotive manufacturer based in Glasgow and Stoke-on-Trent which started in the 1880s. The company went into receivership in the early 1930s, its assets being bought up by Hunslet. Although mostly known for narrow and standard gauge steam locomotives towards the end of Kerr Stuart's existence they also built a number of diesel locomotives of which 4421 was one.

Information
Number built: 2
Built: 1929
Builder: Kerr Stuart
Engine: Mercedes-Benz 6-cylinder diesel
Power: 90 hp (1,305 kW)
Wheel arrangement: 6wDM

4421 was one of two locomotives built in 1929 as demonstrators for industrial use, it worked on a standard gauge branch line of the otherwise narrow gauge Ravenglass & Eskdate Railway from Murthwaite to Ravenglass hauling wagons loaded with crushed granite. When the quarries were closed in 1953 4421 then worked as an industrial locomotive with the National Coal Board being rebuilt with a Dorman diesel engine in 1959. It moved onto Rom River Reinforcement in the late 1960s before finally being preserved at the Foxfield Railway in 1985.

Kerr Stuart diesel locomotives like 4421 used mechanical transmission with a chain final drive. The diesel engine of 4421 had a JAP petrol engine to start it. After being rebuilt with the Dorman engine 4421 had an electric starter.
4421 at the Foxfield Railway