Sans Pareil

From Ratty

Sans Pareil was the first locomotive that NGR Ltd brought to Ravenglass. It was a Bassett-Lowke Class 30 4-4-2 tender engine and twin to Synolda.

The engine was built in 1912, but its history is unclear. One source, and the packing-case that it arrived in say that it was for an exhibition line in Geneva, but it is on record that it was and was also named Prins Olaf and ran on an exhibition line in Cristiania (Oslo). It is more likely that the second story is correct and that the case was just a spare one that was used.

She was built for pleasure lines and not really up to the task of battling up Beckfoot Bank to Boot and when Sir Aubrey Brocklebank arrived in 1919, she was used less and less. In later days, she could be seen frequently double-heading with Colossus, and for this task, her original blue livery was replaced with a matching red one of the other locomotive.

In the 1920s, she was fitted for oil firing, and the last time that she worked was Whitsun in 1926, she was then used to patch up Colossus, and therefore became part of River Mite I.

Her original livery was NGR Blue, and then was repainted red to match that on Colossus.