Built 1898

'GeorgeB', works no. 680 was originally built in 1898 by the Hunslet Engineering company for the Asserton-Smith family owned Dinorwic Slate Quarry at Llanberis North Wales.

When delivered the locomotive, an "Alice" class 0-4-0 ST (saddle tank) was named named 'Wellington' and subsequently renamed GeorgeB either after a family member or a racehorse (naming locos after successful or favourite racehorses was commnon Dinorwic practice).

Alan White an engineer purchased the engine from Dinorwic in 1965 and being a member of the Dowty Railway Preservation Society, he moved the loco to Ashchurch, Gloucestershire where the Society had a small demonstrration line and museum/rail centre. The engine ran for a couple of years on the Dowty line but was withdrawn from service in 1969 and stripped down to enable a total overhaul to be carried out.

Moved To Toddington
In 1982 the Dowty RPS were forced to leave their Ashchurch base and relocated lock, stock and stripped down 'George B' to the Gloucester-Warwickshire Railway base at Toddington. 'George B' remained at Toddington, still stripped down into a kit of parts until 1988 when Alan White left the Dowty society.

The entire kit that was 'George B' was subsequently moved to the owners home near Llandysul, South Wales, although the boiler was to spend 18 months at the Alan Keef premises at Ross-on-Wye. However, due to (his) changing circumstances, while much work has been done on components, very little of the loco was reconstructed.

Following an agreement between Alan White and Bala Lake Railway, all the parts have been moved to Llanuwchllyn to enable full rebuild to take place. And this work is currently ongoing,

It is hoped that GeorgeB will become the fourth working ex-quarry Hunslet 'Alice' class locomotive at Llanuwchllyn within a couple of years.

The author acknowledges the book "Quarry Hunslets of North Wales" by Cliff Thomas as a source of some of the loco's history.

I am indebited to Ron Fisher for the 3 images of GeorgeB in the quarry taken 1961 when Ron visited the place. Ron has an excelelnt collection of standard and narrow gauge photos on his Fotopic site - well worth a visit!