This Day in History: 1928-01-03

03 January 1928

Work commenced at Ravenglass on building the first River Mite, an ingenious attempt to obtain a cheap but powerful articulated locomotive. The chassis of Colossus and Sir Aubrey Brocklebank were united by a steel frame along with a new boiler from the Yorkshire Engine Company and a number of other parts from Sans Pareil, Colossus and Sir Aubrey Brocklebank. The combined engine became an articulated locomotive with a wheel notation of 4-6-0 + 0-6-4. The first trial runs of River Mite took place on 12 April 1928 and it went into traffic on Whit Monday. The locomotive was withdrawn from traffic at the end of the 1937 season due to the chassis badly distorting under load and the locomotive becoming unsafe to work.