'Alice' 0-4-0ST was built in 1902 by the Hunslet Engineering Company (works number 780) for the Asseton-Smith family owned Dinorwic Slate Quarry, Llanberis, North Wales and originally given the "name" No. 4.

Around 1913 the saddle tank on Alice was swapped for the one previously carried by HE 492 'King of the Scarlets' and No. 4 became 'Alice'.The swap probably happened during an overhaul of 'Alice' - the quarry carried out all the repairs needed within the quarry system.

'Alice' with trucks of slate waste high up on a shelf at Dinorwic Slate Quarry 1948 authors collection

Where possible, repairs and overhauls were actually carried out on the quarry levels where the loco normally worked. However, if more extensive work was needed to a major component, say a tank or boiler, then the practice was to swap the damaged element for a good one that had been fully repaired/rebuilt in the quarries Gilfach Ddu works.

'Alice' spent its working life high on Elidir mountain and last worked on the Australia level in 1960 before being slowly dismantled to provide spare parts for other engines still working in the quarry.

Cannibalised of many parts, it was abandoned in its shed after the quarries closed, and considered by many an "impossible" restoration project because of its inaccessibility (its shed was some 1,600ft above sea level.

What was left of 'Alice' was sold to John Marshfield-Hutchings in 1969 (after closure of Dinorwic) as a source of spares. The wheels, underparts and boiler fittings were removed and taken along with 'Holy War' (which Mr Marshfield-Hutchings had also purchased) to Quainton Road Railway Centre in Buckinghamshire. In 1975, the Rev. Alan Cliff purchased 'Holy War' and some of the 'Alice' spares and moved the lot to the Bala Lake Railway.

In spite of all the accessability problems, members of the fledgling West Lancashire Light Railway purchased the remains of 'Alice' so that they could get hold of a boiler for their own kit of parts loco 'Irish Mail' (HE 892 built 1903).

In 1972, members of the West Lancs dramatically lowered the locos frames down the then derelict quarry inclines.The remains were taken to their Heskith Bank HQ and the boiler was mated with the fittings bought from John Marshfield-Hutchings and ultimately added to'Irish Mail'.

George Barnes, founder and engineer of the Bala Lake Railway bought the frames, saddle tank and other remaining bits of 'Alice' (those not wanted by the WLLR) and moved them to Llanuwchllyn yard, where the wheels and underparts acquired by Rev. Alan Cliff were stored.

The various parts stood forlornly at the botton of the Bala Lake Railway yard until in 1987 they were purchased by Bala Lake volunteer Chris Scott and work started on restoration, with the then railway engineer David Black contracted to carry out most of the work.

It was found that the wheels had gone to the Talyllyn Railway some years earlier for profiling and after a search these were discovered in the brambles outside Pendre Works. Also found at Pendre were axlesboxes and brasses (3 marked 780 from 'Alice' and the other maked 409 from HE 0-4-0ST 'Velinheli' of 1886).

During the winter of 1986/7 the wheels were reprofiled in the T.Rly works and regauged from the Dinorwic Quarry 1ft 10^3/4 inch gauge to the Bala Lake Railway 1ft 11^5/8 inch gauge.

Meanwhile at Llanuwchllyn, the other parts were gathered together and work started on the rebuild.

These parts consisted of the frames (with one buffer beam removed by well meaning volunteers for a previous failed restoration project at the railway), a rusty saddle water tank, two cylinder castings (kept in good condition under cover), coupling rods and connecting rods with their brasses and the remains of the cab sides. Rev. Alan Cliff presented Chris Scott with the original cab side from 'Holy War' (which had been turned into a coffee table), in the hope it could be used for 'Alice'.

To these items, Chris also added a set of tubes - bought off a gent in Scotland who was restoring a standard gauge loco but who had ordered new tubes only to find they were 2 inches too short!

Assisted by David Black, the rust was scraped off the frames, the buffer beam was refitted and new hornblocks were made, machined and fitted. The badly worn axleboxes (from Towyn) were reslippered and refitted along with the regauged/reprofiled wheels. New springs and buckles were obtained and fitted.

In August 1988 appeared out of the Llanuwchllyn works, in a coat of red oxide with temporaily fitted running plate on one side and cab sides at the Summer Gala weekend.

By this time, the second-hand bookstall set up initially to raise funds towards the overhaul/rebuild of 'Holy War' had switched to raising money for 'Alice' (the 'Holy War' work having been completed in 1987).

The stall was set out on the platform at Llanuwchllyn, under the canopy, at Easter, May Day & Spring Bank Holiday weekends, usually for a week in late June, then again for 2 - 3 weeks in August (usually ending at the August Bank Holiday weekend) and "manned" by my mother Alice Hyde. One result of mother running the stall was a promise that was ultimately honoured some years later, at another place (more later in the story).

Money was also raised from the steady stream of visitors to the Llanuwchllyn Engine shed/works, collected in a sturdy collection box affixed to the frames of 'Alice'.

Due to the needs of the railway, work on 'Alice' did not recommence until 1989 when new spring hangers were made and the springs fitted.

A small engineering business had been set up in an old school building in the owners home village, a few miles east of Bala Lake. This business, Scanwell Engineering were making precision control mechanisms for hospitals and using their profile cutting equipment produced the brake hangers for 'Alice'.

The saddle water tank turned out to be the one from 'Irish Mail' (presumably that loco carries the one from 'Alice' - continuing the tradion created in the quarries!). Four pieces had been cut out of it and because it was one of the original riveted style tanks a decision was made to try and save it. Skilled welding of new plate into the remains of the tank was carried out by engineers from C.C. Crump (Wagon Repairers) of Deeside, Clwyd and this job completed by June 1989.

Work oin the brake rodding, machining of the spring brake hangers, honing of the two cylinder bores and surface grinding of the slide bars were all completed in 1989. And to round off the year, Chris Scott commissioned Hunslet Engineering to make a replacement set of works plates (with the raised lettering of the originals) and these were added to 'Alice' at the end of that year.

At the start of 1990, new steel plate was obtained for the running plates and a new set of valve buckles made at a small industrial forge in Flint (a pair were obtained, by BLRly,for 'Holy War' at the same time).

Another co-operative arrangement was made for the set of steam pipes. The Maid Marian Locomotive Fund had the patterns and relevant core boxes and Alastair Lamberton wanted a set for his Hunslet 'Margaret'. So two sets were cast at the Rhuddlan Foundry, thereby reducing the overall cost paid by Chris Scott.

The National Salte Museum, established at Llanberis in the old Gilfach Ddu works of the Dinorwic Slate Quarry had retained many of the casting patterns made for the quarry and in 1990 cast a new set of brass nameplates for 'Alice' off the original patterns. The same works also cast the new piston glands from orginal wooden patterns in their care.

At the end of 1990, 'Alice' was moved from the Bala Lake Railway Llanuwchllyn works to a garage located near Chris Scotts home. The running frame of 'Alice' was lifted onto a skip lorry by attaching the chains to each corner of the frame for the journey.

The rear wheels went to Winson Engineering for new crank pins to be fitted and the original handbrake was discovered at the West Lancashire Light Railway and was purchased by Chris Scott.

At this time the question of the new boiler surfaced again. Eventually an agreement was reached with the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway, they would finanace the new boiler and the finished loco would go to their line for five years. Part of the deal was that the boiler would be built by Andy Bennet of Bennet's Boilers of Bristol.

Work on the boiler commenced in 1991 when the boiler plate and barrel was purchased. The barrel is an off-cut of a piece of North Sea gas/oil pipeline purchased from Holland!

The 40 boiler tubes, purchased years earlier from Scotland were transported from their storage place at the Bala Lake Railway to Bristol.

The cylinders were moved to the workshops of Coleg Merionydd (College of Further Education), Dolgellau where David Black was a lecturer in Engineering and Design and it was here that David and Chris surface-milled the cyclinder valve ports and faces. The completed cyclinders were reunited with the frames (in the garage) using fitted bolts manufactured previously at Bala.

The new boiler was successfully hydraulically tested and certified and arrangements made for its delivery to North Wales. However, a problem was envisaged - if the boiler was added to the frames the unit wouldn't fit into the garage!

The solution found seemed simple - the frame would be moved to the Scanwell Enginnering's yard (the old village school yard). The frame was moved in late Novemeber 1991 - attached to a Massey Fergusson tractor and towed through the village streets. The marks are still in the tarmac for all to see!

The completed boiler/firebox arrived early in 1992 and by using a JCB tractor with front forks, was lifted onto railway sleepers laid on the locos frames. Scanwell Engineering built a new smokebox utilising the orginal door which had come from Dinorwic in the orginal 'kit of parts'.

During 1992 work continued on the cylinders and valve chests with the newly machined valves, valve straps and glands fitted. Back at Gilfach Ddu, a pattern was found for the regulator assembly and steam pipes and the castings were made by Colin Roberts at Rhuddlan Foundry.

David Black machined the steam pipes, Chris Scott painted the boiler and fitted the lagging and the completed Scanwell Engineering made smokebox was added to the loco. Fixing brackets were made and the water tank was located between the smokebox and cab sides.

It was at this time, as the loco took shape and valuable fittings were to be added, that a more secure location was sought for 'Alice'.

The Festiniog Railway offered storage and workshop space at their Portmadog works and in October 1992 the skip lorry was once again used to move 'Alice'. As soon as it aarived it was moved to the back of the shed next to Britomart.

Although neither David Black or Chris Scott knew it at the time the move of 'Alice' was made, the FR had decided to offer David full time employment at Boston Lodge. And so it was that David left the Bala Lake Railway at the end of the 1992 season and started work for the FR that December.

Work continued at Boston Lodge, with David white metalling the axlebox brasses and the inside motion was re-bushed and all reassembled and 'Alice' made an appearance at the FR Hunslet 100 Gala in May 1993.

Rhuddlan Foundry cast a new chimney base and a Penrhyn chimmney top was machined to resemble the Dinorwic pattern. And a fabricated manifold was created by Derek Crump of C.C. Crump at Connah's Quay, with two "off-the-shelf" safety valves.

On the 14th August 1993, Alice was moved into the Boston Lodge yard and a fire lit for the first time. On the 28th of August, after all the little jobs had been done, steam was raised again - this time reaching full pressure and the ex-Fairbourne Railway whistle let the world know!

Attention now turned to getting the outside motion completed. This involved casting two new piston heads at Rhuddlan Foundry, machining and white metalling parts, assembling all the elements and setting the valves - to get the correct beat. And in the early Spring of 1994 the loco was painted, with paint left over from the FR paint job carried out on Double Fairlie 'David Lloyd George'.

In May 1994 'Alice' emerged from Boston Lodge and was steamed across the Cob to Harbour Station, then back up the mainline to Minffordd and Penrhyndeudraeth before returning to Porthmadog Harbour and then back to Boston Lodge. After some minor adjustments 'Alice' made a trip along the full FRline on 25th May with no problems.

In June the wooden dumb buffers were made and fitted, the paintwork was lined out and on the 13th June 1994 a final run was made on the FR to Rhiw Goch and back. The next day the transport arrived to take 'Alice' off to the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway.

'Alice' was steamed and made her first full trip on the LBNGR on 19th June 1994, 4 days after arrival and 7 years after the start of the project.

On Saturday 10th September the Hyde family (myself, Mother and my late Father) all made the trip to the LBNGR Gala where 'Alice' was one of the stars. After a few speeches Mother - Alice Hyde - was asked to re-dedicate the loco by pouring a bottle of bubbly over her nameplate.

And that fulfilled a promise made back in 1987/8 by Chris Scott to my Mother, who had spent so much of her holidays sitting at the stall on the platform selling second-hand books and jigsaws to raise money for the restoration of 'Alice' the loco. The following day, 'Alice' ran her first revenue earning trip double headed with 'Doll'.

Although 'Alice' was now part of the LBNGR fleet, she didnt spend all her time at Leighton Buzzard. The loco visited Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in 1997, the FR in 1997 and in 1999 she came back to the Bala Lake Railway for our August 25th Anniversary (of the Society formation) Gala weekend and for the first time completed a trip to Bala and back!

In 2000, 'Alice' visited Frankfurt, Germany in June and the FR again in October and in 2002 'Alice' visited Alston and the South Tynedale Railway.

On the 2nd November 2003 'Alice' returned to the Bala Lake Railway following expiry of the agreement with the LBNGR (she had been there 9 years).

The Bala Lake Railway Co. and Chris Scott have reached an agreement that the BLR will now be her home for the forseeable future, although Chris still takes the engine out to visit pastures new from time to time. In 2008 it was to Wickstead Park, Kettering.

Cliff Thomas and the excellent book 'Quarry Hunslets of North Wales', published by Oakwood Press for the chronology of the restoration project. I heartily recommend this book to all NG railway fans. To fellow Bala Lake Railway volunteers Ben Abbott, John Downes and Bob Greenhalgh thanks for the photographs.