4030 DOLPHIN Built 1925 - William S Davies - Survived
This was the last engine built at Burrell's Thetford works. The engine was supplied to William Davies in September 1925. In 1927 she was sold to John Shaw of Sheffield and renamed The Guv'nor. While in John Shaw's ownership the canopy was lowered by 6 inches. Later she was sold to the Merseyside traveller , H.J Wallis Junior and renamed The Commando. She was eventually sold to a market gardener to be used for soil sterilisation. Luckily she got bogged down in a field and was sold to John Alderson in 1959. He undertook her first restoration in preservation. Read the full story below.
Dolphin in 1935
In preservation 1950's
1975 Derelict in Farm yard in Knaresborough while in John Alderson's ownership - Photo Karl Bradley
1975 photo Karl Bradley
How Dolphin was saved from the scrapman
The newspaper cutting below describes how "Dolphin" came to be saved for preservation after its life on the road pulling the rides for Davies and later Shaw. It is a wonderful story - the engine had been sold to be used as a boiler for sterilising the soil at a market garden. Luckily it became so bogged down in the wet ground that it survived long enough for steam enthusiast John Alderson to purchase and restore her back to her former glory.