45407 “The Lancashire Fusilier”
Locomotive no. 45407 was built by the Armstrong Whitworth Company Spotswood, Newcastle in 1937 for the L.M.S Railway, its work number being 1462. It was 1 of 226 engines, which was the largest order ever placed with a private builder by a British Railway Company the order being worth 2.7 million Pounds.
When new the engine was delivered to Kettering where it worked for a considerable time on the Midland mainline. In late 1960’s the engine was moved between various sheds ending up at Lockstock Hall in 1968.
The engine was purchased from B.R. by David Davis for £3300 and was subsequently moved to Carnforth for restoration. In 1974 it was bought by Paddy Smith who operated the engine on the B.R. system, notably the Settle & Carlisle, Cumbrian Coast and Crewe to Holyhead routes. The engine best known for its exploits in Scotland on the Fort William to Mallaig route, where it spent three seasons in the late 1980’s. After the last season in Scotland, 45407 was moved to Carnforth for new tyres and onto the E.L.R. for running on Heritage Railways for the last three years of its boiler ticket. In 1997 Ian Riley bought the engine from Mr Smith and had the engine overhauled at his works in Bury. Works included a new tender tank with greater water capacity, the fitting of air brake equipment to enable the engine to haul modern coaching stock and the fitting of A.W.S. to comply with Railtrack’s modern Safety and Signalling requirements.
Engine Data
Length- 63’8”
Height- 12’8”
Width- 8’7.5/8”
Weight- 125 tons
Coal - 9 tons
Water - 4710 gallons
Tractive effort – 25455 lb
Boiler pressure – 225 lb
LMS Black 5 4-6-0 no. 45212
LMS Black 5 4-6-0 no. 45212, owned by the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and leased to Riley & Son (E) Ltd on a 10-year agreement was built by Armstrong Whitworth at Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1935. Originally numbered 5212 by the LMS, the engine was renumbered as 45212 under British Railways after nationalisation in 1948. The engine was first shedded in Bradford and was withdrawn from Lostock Hall shed in 1968. 45212 was involved in hauling the final scheduled steam service for British Railways on 4th August 1968. 45212 was one of the last locomotives to be withdrawn from service.
In 2012 Riley & Son (E) Ltd reached an agreement with 45212’s owners which would see us overhaul the locomotive to modern mainline standard. This comprehensive overhaul included attention to the boiler motion and running gear, installation of air brakes and AWS. 45212 is one of only two steam locomotives to be fitted with the latest in safety technology in the form of TPWS four and the DR3000 On Train Monitoring and Recording systems.
Engine Data
Length- 63’7 ¾ “
Height- 12’8”
Width- 8’7.5/8”
Weight- 125 tons
Coal - 9 tons
Water - 4000 gallons
Tractive effort – 25455 lb
Boiler pressure – 225 lb
LMS Black 5 4-6-0 no. 44871
LMS Black 5 4-6-0 no. 44871 was built at Crewe Works in 1945. Originally numbered 4871 by the LMS, she was renumbered 44871 under British Railways after nationalisation. The Locomotive was one of the last to be withdrawn from service in 1968, the last year of steam on British Railways. She was also one of four locomotives chosen to take part in the famous Fifteen Guinea Special on the11 August 1968, but is one of only three from that to survive.
Locomotive no. 44871 was purchased directly from British Railways by Dr Peter Beet and Graham Ellis for preservation so was never restored from scrapyard condition. In August 2010, 44871 featured in an episode of the British soap opera ‘Coronation Street’, where she was hauling Roy and Hayley Cropper's wedding train. During this 44871 carried her sibling 45407's "Lancashire Fusilier" nameplates. In Aug 2017 the locomotive returned to service following a very extensive overhaul.
After purchasing 44871 from her previous owners in late 2006, 44871 underwent a comprehensive overhaul to enable her to take to the mainline again. Large sections of the outer firebox wrapper were replaced along with around 1200 firebox stays and 320 crown stays. The overhaul also saw our in-house team of specialist engineers install air-brakes, AWS, TPWS, OTMR and more recently GSM-R Radio.
Engine Data
Length- 63’8”
Height- 12’8”
Width- 8’7.5/8”
Weight- 125 tons
Coal - 9 tons
Water - 4710 gallons
Tractive effort – 25455 lb
Boiler pressure – 225 lb