Peter Leslie Beet MRCS LRCP (17 February 1937 – 28 October 2005)[1] was an English general practitioner notable for his pioneering work in the preservation of steam locomotives.
Raised in Kendal on the edge of the Lake District, close to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway's West Coast Main Line, he was educated in Harrogate, close to the London and North Eastern Railway's East Coast Main Line.
He attended medical school in Leeds, where on the weekends he would visit Tebay and its engine shed, with staff letting him clean and prepare locomotives.
Beet first tried to save the Sir William Stanier-designed Coronation 46243 City of Lancaster, but was unsuccessful.
[6][7] Although the plan was backed by transport minister Barbara Castle, the need to widen the A590 road and the resultant loss of a railway bridge over the River Leven, meant that the complete vision was unsuccessful, but the company saved 3.5 miles (5.6 km), albeit isolated from the main network, to create the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway from 1973.
[12] Realising that there would be a need for maintenance and servicing, in 1968 he successfully acquired a lease on the LMS 10A shed at Carnforth, creating the attraction of Steamtown[13] from 1968, funded by industrialist and fellow steam enthusiast Sir William McAlpine, 6th Baronet.
The venture closed as a public access visitor attraction in 1997, some years after the preserved site was taken over by businessman David Smith to become the base for his West Coast Railways (WCR).