THE LAST ONES

Howard Johnston records the final few days of BR steam, when ‘ordinary’ engines briefly became celebrities.

Tracking down BR steam’s final timetabled movements

In early September 1968, sheds around the North West were littered with derelict locomotives. BR’s end-of-steam party had ended a month ago, and all that was left was to find scrap dealers to take away those that were not secured for preservation.

The burnish applied to the railtour engines was lost. They were stripped of their smokebox numberplates and many of their fittings, including rods. The wet weather accelerated the rust, and the final railtour engines lay in the long lines parked up at Carnforth, Lostock Hall and Rose Grove, as well as Bolton, Newton Heath, Stockport Edgeley and Patricroft, among others. Regular main line steam on BR was scheduled to finish at midnight on Sunday August 4 1968, when the foremen at Carnforth, Lostock Hall and Rose Grove sheds were under strict instructions not to use their locomotives again.

For all three, it had been a hectic day supplying power for a flurry of final day railtours that crisscrossed the North West. However draconian, the end-of-steam deadline couldn’t quite be enforced, and it was actually four hours into Monday August 5 when named ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0, No. 45156 Ayrshire Yeomanry, slipped into the silent darkness of Lostock Hall shed yard. The tender handbrake was screwed tight, and that was it for the 33-year-old engine, which would not make it into preservation. Andy Hall, on the footplate of No. 45156 that night, could well stake his claim of being BR’s last steam driver, but what does the word ‘last’ mean? It depends on how you interpret the rules. Disregarding August 4 (or 5), the ‘last last’ live steam on BR was supposed to be the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ on Sunday August 11 1968, for which five locomotives were specially held back, of which four were used.

However, there were several more ‘lasts’ to come; a tiny number blatantly broke the strict national steam ban to reach their new homes, in more than one instance involving a 200-mile-plus light engine working on the main line. The last of these transfers took place well into September.

PRESTON’S LAST PASSENGER FLING

Two passenger rosters on Saturday August 3 delivered cracking near-80mph performances from the pair of ‘Black Fives’ in charge of the last trains. Late that afternoon, No. 45212 ran the short distance from Lostock Hall to Preston to take the 8.50pm Blackpool portion of the 5.05pm arrival from Euston (to Glasgow). At the same time, No. 45318 arrived to take out the rear portion

of a Glasgow-London service, forming the 9.25pm to Liverpool Exchange (the usual English Electric Type 4 diesel didn’t appear). Both trains were jam-packed, and the reward for those who chose not to travel was the sight of No. 45212 arriving at Preston for one more duty – some final shunting and steam-heating of sleeper coaches. That really was the last regular BR passenger duty.

No. 70013 Oliver Cromwell was involved in several ‘lasts’. Like No. 45156, it overran the August 4 curfew by a few minutes, making it back to Lostock Hall shed a few minutes after midnight.

After its ‘Fifteen Guinea’ exploits between Manchester and Carlisle on August 11, No. 70013 was dispatched light engine from Lostock Hall at around 21.30 to Bressingham (the last BR steam into East Anglia), making the 250-mile journey to Norwich via Copy Pit, and Wakefield.

Stanier ‘8F’ 2-8-0 No. 48773 was steamed at Rose Grove shed on August 8 ready for its light engine move to Bescot and the Severn Valley Railway, but that was stopped by Preston Control, and its eventual journey south was towed dead behind a diesel.

‘Black Five’ No. 45428 ran light from Leeds Holbeck shed on August 24, where it had been stored for 12 months, to Tyseley, which made it the last engine to leave an Eastern Region shed.

Later still, BR ‘5MT’ 4-6-0 No. 73050 was coaled and lit up at Newton Heath shed for the long journey to Peterborough on September 19. It ran early, so it seems that this rather special ‘last’ run over the Calder Valley line was not recorded on film.