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The Sirapite Restoration Project
Sirapite is a very rare shunting engine. It is part traction engine and part locomotive and was built in 1906 by Aveling and Porter for Gypsum Mines Ltd. at Mountfield in Sussex. Its name comes from a product similar to plaster of paris which was produced by the company: Sirapite was decided to be more suitable than Parisite.
Sirapite was bought by Richard Garrett and Sons and brought to Leiston in 1929. It was used to replace the horses which had been used to control the trucks which conveyed goods and materials on tracks between the workers' houses to and from the town site to the top site and Leiston railway station. The engineering works, hidden behind high walls, dominated the life of this small town and Sirapite was the visible link between the company and the townspeople, trundling backwards and forwards across the main road, supervised by a man with a red flag.
In 1962 Sirapite went into retirement and four years later was bought and taken away by Sir William MacAlpine to add to his collection.
Many years later the engine found its way to Preston Services in Kent and there, neglected and rusting, it stayed until in 2003 the Trustees of the Long Shop Museum succeeded in raising the money through the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation to buy it and bring it back to Leiston in March 2004. In 2005 a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund was successful and the Long Shop Museum was awarded a grant of £50,000 towards the cost of restoring the engine to full working order. Parts were replaced and repaired using traditional techniques by professional engineers and volunteers and Sirapite painted in its original colours. Part of the grant was awarded to support the interpretation of the project, which was mainly carried out by volunteers. This included archive research, the creation of display boards, the making of oral history recordings for audio posts, and new education material. Other volunteers organised fundraising events to enable us to complete the project, which has been fully supported by the local community, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council and Leiston-cum-Sizewell Town Council.
Important aims are to enable visitors of all ages to learn more about their heritage, to preserve an important aspect of Leiston's history, and to contribute to the social and economic development of the local community. There will be the opportunities to see Sirapite in steam at the Museum's official Open Day, Easter Sunday, Leiston Day, Final Fling and the last Sunday in April, June, July, August and September (subject to driver availability). Some of the photographs taken during the restoration project can be seen by clicking here.