Reply To: Imperial Paper Mills (Gravesend)

I think this loco was saved by a local school boy who donated it to the NRM, there was a newspaper story about it. It would have been worth less as scrap than a conventional steam engine as it had no copper firebox or boiler tubes. Strange that APM didn’t use fireless locos. More photos of Imperial’s railway are to be found on Flickr.

I visited Imperial with Jim Martin and the EM mechanical engineer (unfortunately I cannot remember his name) after the mill had closed, looking to see if anything was worth salvaging, but most had already been taken out. I think Imperial no 7 was a twin to APM no 13 and there were rumours no 7 would be rebuilt alongside no 13, as the m/c house seemed to be designed for a second machine (though the control room etc, reeler and supercalender would need to be resited. The corrugated end wall always seemed a bit temporary.