This veteran 0-6-0T No 15 was purchased new by the Wemyss Coal Co from Hawthorn Leslie of Newcastle in May 1914 at the bargain price of £1500 (HL 3026/1913). Passed on in 1947 to the NCB, it changed livery to green but retained its original number. Not scrapped until 1972 the robust little shunter repaid every penny of its cost many times over, working throughout at the Wellesley redd tipping sidings or the washer (redd is an old Scots term for waste). In this view taken in December 1967, the Wellesley colliery complex can be seen in the left distance. The radio aerial protruding from the cab roof was a refinement introduced in 1957 that was carried by some of the local NCB locomotives to provide radio contact during complex shunting operations in the yard at Methil. It was suggested that WPR locomotives should also be fitted with VHF radio equipment but Captain Michael Wemyss steadfastly refused to entertain the idea.

Photo by and copyright of David P Williams