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The 19th century locomotive known as 'Jack' is back on display at the Armley Mills museum after being restored to full working order.

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The narrow track train was given the name 'Jack' by its builders at The Hunslet Engine Company based at Jack Lane during its construction in 1898.

And it is looking better than ever following extensive repairs to its boiler.

The repairs were carried out by Leeds City Council with the help of a grant from the Friends of Leeds City Museums.

The project was celebrated at a special ceremony yesterday which saw Jack back in action for the first time in over three years.

Leeds City Council executive member for Leisure Coun John Procter said: "It is fantastic that this amazing machine from our industrial history is now rightly back in full working order.

"We cannot wait to see Jack in action once again, and a huge thank you belongs to the Friends and everyone involved who helped make it happen.

"Thousands of people will be able to come to Armley Mills and marvel at Jack and all the other fascinating machines on display over the coming years, and that is something that is great to see."

Jack is one of the most popular machines on display at the museum due
to it being a very rare example of a narrow gauge (narrow track) locomotive.

These locomotives were in active service from 1858 until 1957 when the company switched to rope haulage, meaning trains like Jack were no longer needed.

After being placed in storage for a year, Jack was then donated by John Knowles Ltd to Leeds Museums with the help of the Narrow Gauge Railway Society.

With no industrial museum in Leeds until Armley Mills opened in March 1980, Jack was placed in storage for the intervening 22 years at a disused sub-station at Copley Hill.

The locomotive deteriorated badly during its time in storage, and a major three-year renovation scheme co-ordinated by the council involving restorers in Bradford and Keighley was needed to return the train to working order.

Jack was on display at Bradford Industrial Museum for a year but in June 1984 returned to his home town of Leeds to officially open the new dual gauge track at Armley Mills.

It went on to become a firm favourite there with visitors who could see him running along the track on selected days of the year.

Unfortunately during Easter 2006 the boiler developed major faults which prompted the latest major refit which has now successfully been carried out.

* For further information on Armley Mills Industrial Museum, go to www.leeds.
gov.uk/ArmleyMills.