Some days of steam with 0-6-0T Coltness Iron Company No.1 'Lord Roberts' painted in 'Thomas' blue livery.
Built 1899 for stock, Neilson Reid, Hyde Park Works, Glasgow. Works No.5710. National Coal Board Area 3 (Central West) No.1.
The locomotive was sold to the Coltness Iron Co., of Newmains, Lanarkshire, in 1902. It was named after an army officer who had distinguished himself during the suppression of the Indian Mutiny, and who became a national hero in 1902 when he reprieved the British disasters in the early stages of the South African War with such success that the Boers never again took the field as an organised army.
The Coltness Iron Co. were coal and iron masters, who also developed steel making interests. Their iron and steel business later declined, and the company concentrated on coal mining at Kingshill and Overtown in Lanarkshire. Newmains became a cement works.
No. 1 was bought by the National Coal Board in 1955, along with other Coltness Iron Company assets. Allocated to NCB Central West area, it was based at Twechar, near Kilsyth, and worked at Bedlay Colliery. It was withdrawn in 1968 following breakage of a crosshead.
Donated by the NCB, the locomotive was delivered by goods train to the SRPS Falkirk Depot.