LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 5407

45407 passing through Todmorden, on the way to Blackburn in November 2008
45407 approaching Summerseat Station in April 2009
45407 The Lancashire Fusilier at Wakefield Kirkgate Station in August 2010
45407 waiting in the platform at Carlisle to depart with the return leg of "The Winter Cumbrian Mtn Express" on Sat 24th January 2015

LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 45407 'The Lancashire Fusilier' is a LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 locomotive engine built at Armstrong Whitworth in 1937. Owned by railway engineering company Riley and Son, it is one of 18 surviving Black 5 locomotives.

Operations

No. 45407 was built by Armstrong Whitworth of Scotswood, Newcastle, in 1937 for the London Midland and Scottish Railway. It was works No. 1462, one of 226 locomotives which formed the largest order ever placed with a private builder by a British railway company, worth £2.7 million.[1]

It was outshopped initially to Kettering, and then worked along the Midland Main Line. In the late 1960s the engine was moved between various sheds ending up at Lostock Hall in 1968.[1] During its working life no. 45407 was based at the following sheds:

Preservation

One of the final Black 5s in operation, 45407 was withdrawn on 4 August 1968. Dr Peter Beet, the co-founder of Steamtown Carnforth, with Sir Bill McAlpine, and business partner David Davis, visited Lostock Hall MPD to choose a locomotive to save, selecting No. 45407. Davis bought the locomotive for £3,300,[1] and it became part of the Steamtown collection, where for some time it was painted in Furness Railway Indian red livery.

In 1974, it was bought by Paddy Smith, who returned it to LMS livery. He operated the engine on various enthusiast tours, including the Settle-Carlisle Line, the Cambrian Coast Express, the Crewe to Holyhead Line; and The Jacobite between Fort William and Mallaig, where it spent three seasons in the late 1980s. After the last season in Scotland, No. 45407 was returned to Carnforth, and then moved to the East Lancashire Railway to run out the last three years of its boiler certificate.[1]

In 1997, Ian Riley bought the engine, and had it overhauled at his railway engineering works, Riley and Son, Bury. The works included a new tender 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 Signaling requirements.[1]

In 2010, No. 45407 underwent a rapid overhaul, which is believed to be the fastest undertaken on a mainline locomotive in preservation at just 14 weeks. The loco is based on the East Lancashire Railway at Bury, and is main-line registered until 2020.. The loco is currently (2015 season) based in Fort William, Scotland working "The Jacobite" daily between Fort William and Mallaig.

The locomotive made an appearance at the beginning of the 2005 black comedy movie Keeping Mum, and during the 1991 episode of 'The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge' by Agatha Christie starring David Suchet.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "No.45407". Riley and Son. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  2. ↑ The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge, LWT, 1991
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