Invicta (locomotive)

Construction The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway ordered a single locomotive from Robert Stephenson & Co in 1829, and construction of ‘’Invicta’’ started that year at Stephenson's Forth Street works in Newcastle upon Tyne. The locomotive's name comes from the Invicta motto on the Flag of Kent and means ‘’undefeated’’. The locomotive weighed 6 tons 5 cwt excluding the tender and produced . The major controls, including the regulator are located about halfway along the boiler's left-hand side. It was operated by a driver, who stood on a timber footboard mounted above the locomotive's rear wheel (as on Locomotion No. 1) and a fireman who stood in the tender. For this maiden journey, the locomotive was driven by Edward Fletcher, who later became the locomotive superintendent of the North Eastern Railway. ‘’Invicta’’ was the sole locomotive to be used on the line at the time of its opening. Initial operations using ‘’Invicta’’ saw it routed along the northern two miles of the Canterbury & Whitstable line; however, it soon became apparent that the locomotive lacked the power at any speed to haul trains up the steep incline along Church Street when departing Whitstable. Reportedly these changes negative impacted locomotive's performance, often failing to produce a sufficient head of steam as to allow adequate performance. The locomotive's service life following these failures was brief. == Preservation ==

-type locomotive, labelled "Invicta", at Margate railway station, Kent During 1839, Invicta was withdrawn from use upon the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway after it was decided to use stationary engines for pulling trains, which had proved to be both adequate for the line's working and less troubled by a lack of power than a locomotive. During 1892, it is believed that work was begun upon its restoration; few details on this process are known. During November 2008, it was announced that a £41,000 Heritage Lottery Fund planning grant had been made to Canterbury City Council to develop a new museum at Whitstable to house Invicta, as well as a stationary winding engine that was built at Robert Stephenson's works. In the months after Canterbury Heritage Museum closed down, the long term residence of Invicta was a topic of considerable debate, during which numerous museums petitioned to have it in their collections. Invicta was lifted in to its new home at the Whitstable Museum and Gallery on 16 June 2019. ==References==