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On the last weekend of November 2019, an-ex member of the Tarmac quarrying team came back to visit. But this former worker was a bright yellow 23 tonne steam locomotive, known as the ‘Clockwork Lemon’ and, after being restored to all its former glory, it was given a VIP welcome!

Built nearly 100 years ago, the ‘RS8’ locomotive carried out many years of hard work in the quarry, firstly as a steam locomotive and then converted to run on diesel in 1959.  After retiring in 1972, the RS8 sadly went into disrepair through neglect and vandalism, until local loco experts, the Briddon family of Darley Dale rescued it in 2016.

Partnering with Tarmac, the Briddon family then set about the long, arduous and complex task of bringing the RS8 back to life with a running diesel engine.  A team of locomotive enthusiasts, supported by hands-on help from Tarmac’s own mechanical apprentices, fitters and welders worked on the restoration labour of love which included a strip down to the bare chassis and painstakingly rebuild retaining much of the original material.

The project finished earlier this year and on the last weekend of November 2019 the revamped ‘Clockwork Lemon’ was unveiled appropriately at the railway sidings at Tarmac’s Tunstead Quarry.  There to welcome the loco back to its original home were the restoration team, along with many other people who had been involved with it throughout its life, including members of the team who had worked on the conversion of the RS8 from steam to diesel in 1959.  One of those was 96-year-old Derek Burton.

Derek said:  “I saw the RS8 last when it was in a real state of neglect over 12 years ago. I feel elated to be seeing it again. It’s wonderful and a great concept to do the restoration. I want to thank people because it’s not down to me – it’s down to Pete Briddon and family and Tarmac Tunstead who have kindly picked it up.”

Pete Briddon added: “It has been a great pleasure to bring this loco back to life and the support from Tarmac has been superb”.

Tarmac Tunstead Engineering Services manager Reg Gartside added: “We are delighted to welcome this loco back to Tunstead to unveil it in its fully restored state.  The team here has been enthusiastically involved right from the start and to see it run along the tracks here was the icing on the cake of a long and rewarding project.  We were particularly pleased that the team was able to restore the very important safety features of the RS8 – innovative at the time they were installed in the late 1950s.  These included a safety step and four position controls which enabled the driver to have much better visibility no matter which way the locomotive was travelling.”

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For the full story of the ‘Clockwork Lemon’ RS8 Locomotive, please visit the restoration website www.RS8restoration.co.uk.