Bahamas – anniversary and anticipation
This winter a little anniversary has slipped by: 50 years ago, in November 1967, final ‘Jubilee’ Alberta was withdrawn from traffic. Then, in December, came the 20th anniversary of the last time the fire was dropped in Bahamas. That was in 1997, three years after the double chimney No. 45596 had worked on the main line. So it was appropriate that in December a fire burned once again in the Stanier 4‑6‑0’s boiler. There’s still a way to go before it runs – the ‘5XP’s’ steam raiser was not yet in the frames – but it’s a significant step forward in No. 45596’s Heritage Lottery Fund‑supported overhaul that’s taking place at Tyseley. “We’re quite confident that during 2018 a green ‘Jubilee’ will be turning its wheels on the network for the first time in 20‑odd years,” says the Bahamas Locomotive Society’s John Hillier. That, after all the hard work, is undoubtedly a moment to savour. Of course, in anticipation of what is certainly one of the ‘big name’ returns to look forward to, thoughts are turning to what the former Stockport engine might do. There are some ideas floating around, but John is cautious. “The bottom line is we have an engine that will be available in 2018 and we will run it with whoever wants to run it. “One of the things that we’d quite like to do would be to get ‘Cromwell’, ‘Scotsman’ and Bahamas together, as they were in March 1968. “It would also be nice to get it back to Stockport at some stage, it would be nice to get it back to Glasgow [where it was built], but we’re mindful that all we have is a locomotive that can be made available.” Naturally enough, another idea is to take it back to typical ‘Jub’ territory, on the Midland Main Line.