Now Stothert & Pitt's steam crane No 312 has finally returned to Bath after a four- year sojourn at the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust's Washford Yard, I am trying to piece together its long history.

This remarkable old survivor was built at Stothert & Pitt's Newark Foundry between 1904 and 1908.

Veteran S&D engineer Nigel Smart favours 1904 and I tend to agree with him. It is probably the last remaining example of the company's rail- mounted, self-propelled steam crane output in the world.

Crane No 312 probably led a fairly mundane existence as a yard workhorse both in Bath and Washford.

But we do know it was involved in a dramatic accident in 1951, when a runaway engine at Stothert & Pitt's engineering works crashed into the crane, overturning it and trapping driver Fred Nash of Clarence Place, Lower Weston, in the cab.

The accident happened on the morning of Thursday December 13, 1951 and driver Nash sustained injuries to a shoulder, arm and wrist.

Stothert & Pitt's staff medical officer, Dr L Scott-White, saved his life.

The incident was reported on the front page of the Bath & Wilts Chronicle & Herald that same day and a photograph accompanying the story shows the crane lying at an angle with British Railways Bulleid Wilton Southern Pacific 'West Country' locomotive No 3401 at rest following the derailment. Unfortunately the original press cutting and photograph are too degraded for reproduction and file copies have not survived.

If any former Stothert & Pitt employee can recall the 1951 derailment and took photographs at the time, it would be good to hear from them.

I also want to make contact with anyone who came into contact with steam crane No 312 during its time at the Stothert & Pitt rail sidings or Green Park locomotive depot. The crane was donated to the S&D Railway Trust in 1971, where it worked until 2007, in the caring hands of engineer Nigel Smart, when boiler-failure rendered it surplus to requirements.

The Edwardian steam engine probably began life as a cab-less "pepper-pot" machine, with no shelter for its crew and the cab we see today being added in the 1920s.

The crane will now undergo on-site restoration at Bath's Western Riverside Development and a "topping-out" ceremony arranged for later in the year. It is hoped to put the unique Stothert & Pitt engine back in steam.

BRYAN CHALKER Mayor Bath