A “TRY-COCK” amnesty has been introduced in the hope that a brass tap stolen from Locomotion No 1 may be returned after nearly 60 years.

When the engine was built in 1825, the engine had two try-cocks on its rear. These taps were used for testing the water level in the boiler.

Today, only one try-cock remains, although there is a hole for fitting the second one.

The Northern Echo: Locomotion No 1's backplate, with one try-cock, or brass tap, still in place but only a hole where the other should be - do you know what happened to it?

That try-cock was stolen in 1965 when the loco was displayed on a plinth at Bank Top station.

“Of course, it may have been long since melted down,” says Dr Michael Bailey, who is studying every component on the engine, “but in case it survives at the back of someone's garden shed, I’d like to appeal to them to return it to the museum.”

No questions will be asked – although the missing try-cock is part of the Locomotion story and it would be great to know where it has been all of these years.

The Northern Echo: Derek Ward found this postcard of Locomotion No 1 on its plinth outside North Road station in an antique shop for just £1 - a bargain!