Template:Featured article/December 2019
Livingston Thompson - also named Taliesin and Earl of Merioneth during its working life - was the second locomotive to be built by the Festiniog Railway Company in its own workshops at Boston Lodge and the fourth FR Double Fairlie. It worked on the FR until 1971 when, worn out from years of service, it was withdrawn. It was then cosmetically restored with the original name, Livingston Thompson, and placed on display at the National Railway Museum in York.
The locomotive was originally named after Livingston Thompson, the railway's largest shareholder and, as a director, an influential supporter of the Spooners.
Livingston Thompson was built at Boston Lodge between 1882 and 1886 to the same basic design that G. P. Spooner had produced for Merddin Emrys, with the improvement of larger water tanks and incorporating the modifications that had been made to Merddin Emrys since its construction. The boiler was built by Adamsons and the frame plates came from the Farnley Iron Co. with most of the rest of the foundry work being done at Boston Lodge. The works plates record a completion date of 1885 but Livingston Thompson actually entered service in June 1886. Originally intended to be number 11 in the FR fleet, it was given the number 3 (formerly carried by Mountaineer which was withdrawn in 1879) within one year of building and it probably never ran as number 11. (more...)