View the renovation by appointment only.....email fowler.4220001@btopenworld.com

Welcome to the Fowler 4220001 Web Site!

The purpose of this web site is to show the progress of the fowler restoration which started on the 1st  October, 2002.

Before the start of the renovation.

Our location

We are based at Northampton Ironstone Railway Trust and we have been granted the use of the railways facilities for the rebuild. When complete, the loco will be joining a small fleet of industrial engines hauling trains around Hunsbury Hill Country Park.

The Fowler Team

Our team is a small but dedicated crew, who bring many years of experience to the project. Bill Nile, major share holder and the man responsible for acquiring the fowler initially. Bill's skills as a electrical engineer (his day job) and highly successful fundraiser. Next is Simon Tasker, a major share holder, a maintenance engineer from the Public sector brings many relevant skills. 

Our consulting mechanical engineer is Nick Robinson, with over 40 years experience of road & rail in both Europe & Asia. He is a major asset to the project. Finally and by know means least, our photographer Stewart Johnson, who is providing a photographic diary of the renovation and advice on all things computing!

Our thanks must all so go to the Directors of the Trust for allowing us to use their wonderful facilities. We hope to repay them by providing a first class fully overhauled engine for the railway to use.

The next few months

We hope to have the fowler running again shortly, the cab requires a little more preparation work and then the welding can be done, then fully repainted into its new livery. The engine has been stripped, cleaned & newly repainted in grey. All the engine parts have been reassembled and refitted, the radiator has been polished to a deep burnished brass finish. The radiator cowl repaired & repainted. The internal frame around the engine bay has had its first coat of deep red gloss. The rewire has just started with new cabling, fuse board & fully serviced switches ready for fitting. We are now turning our attention to the air system, which in places needs to be remapped.

......STOP PRESS.....STOP PRESS.....STOP PRESS.....STOP PRESS....

Search for a name...

Just before we finish the fowler, we are going to run a naming competition. The naming ceremony will coincided with the reopening of NIRT and we hope to have a well known railway celebrity to award a very special prize to the lucky winner. More on this soon.....

Driver training...

A chance to drive this ex works loco, dates & times to follow. All funds raised go to the railway.