Steam Elephant (replica)

A working replica of the Steam Elephant, an early colliery locomotive believed to have been designed by John Buddle and William Chapman for the Wallsend Waggonway on the north bank of the Tyne in about 1815, using ironwork supplied by Hawks of Gateshead.

Beamish commissioned the replica to carry passengers on its standard gauge Pockerley Waggonway. The work was completed by Alan Keef Ltd, with Dorothea Restorations, after the museum found it needed a contractor with the necessary in-house skills.

Location and status last confirmed Beamish, The Living Museum of the North, August 2026. Subject to verification.

Designed and built by Ross Clavell, Jim Rees and Dave Potter and assembled by Alan Keef, finished in 1998 and carrying passengers from 2002 on Beamish’s standard gauge Pockerley Waggonway. The design was reconstructed from contemporary paintings, one of them the earliest known oil painting of a steam locomotive. No original Steam Elephant survives.

No owner or livery is recorded here; the source consulted gives the location and status but not those details.