Ninety-eight-year-old Ken Cooke would have spent every morning riding to work at the Rowntrees factory on-board a much larger version of the Ruston & Hornsby 88DS locomotive pictured here, so it must have been a real nostalgic honour when Hornby model manufacturers presented him with his very own mini-version.
Before he was employed at the cocoa works, Ken started out life very differently to most teenagers you see nowadays. When he was just 16, Ken volunteered to serve his country, lying about his age to get onboard a boat to join the war effort, where he went on to land during D-Day.
This is not the first time that Ken has been recognised for his service, back in 2016 he was awarded the Legion D’Honneur (France’s highest military honour).
The Ruston 441934 was built new for Rowntree & Co. Ltd of York in April 1960. Over the decades since it has helped to assemble thousands of trains at Rowntree, which over many years, carried millions of boxes of chocolates and chocolate bars all over the country.
In 1987 the No. 3 was passed to the North York Moors Railway for preservation, but in 2013 it was acquired by two members of the Derwent Valley Light Railway, Glynnis and Tony Frith, who returned it back home to York.
When Glynnis and Tony were looking for a suitable name for the locomotive, they chose Ken Cooke as a fitting tribute to veteran Ken.
We’re sure that as a lifelong member of the Derwent Valley Light Railway, this model is an award he’ll cherish forever.
Head to www.yourlocallink.co.uk for more of the latest news in our area.
Add a comment