❖ 44767 sold to West Coast
Former owner says he did not have the means to finance overhaul of ‘Black Five’.
Stephenson link-motion ‘Black Five’ No. 44767 ‘George Stephenson’ has been sold by owner Ian Storey to West Coast Railways – becoming the second ‘Black Five’ (with No. 44932) in the Carnforth company’s steam fleet. The love of Ian Storey’s life for the past 43 years – he bought the Crewe-built engine from Brian Hollingsworth in January 1975 for £7,000 – No. 44767 had been ‘on the market’ since the autumn of last year, the sale of the engine being under discussion with prospective buyers since November. Ultimately, it was a lack of available funding which forced a reluctant Mr Storey to sell the engine on, and he confirmed its purchase by West Coast Railway Co. Chairman David Smith in mid-August.
“I didn’t really want to get rid of it,” he told Steam Railway “but I didn’t have the means to finance it.”
‘George Stephenson’ was last steamed at the North Norfolk Railway in October 2014, and was moved shortly afterwards to the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust’s West Shed at the Midland Railway – Butterley, ostensibly to be readied for a return to main line operation, as a contract, by PRCLT staff.
The engine was dismantled and, as part of its overhaul, a new pair of cylinders were cast, but in recent times overhaul activity had ground to a halt. The first transfer of dismantled parts from Butterley to Carnforth was expected to take place in mid-September.
True to character however, David Smith, who delights in his attempts to wrong-foot the press, denied he had bought the engine. “That’s strange,” he told Steam Railway. “Ian Storey told me he had sold it to Jeremy Hosking.” A spokesman for Mr Hosking confirmed to the magazine that no such deal had taken place.
The only ‘Black Five’ to be fitted with Stephenson link-motion, at the behest of H.G. Ivatt, No. 44767 was built at Crewe in December 1947, and withdrawn from BR service upon the closure of Carlisle Kingmoor shed (12A) exactly 20 years later in December 1967.
In a deal brokered by the late Dr Peter Beet, it was bought from BR by Brian Hollingsworth for £2,100, but during restoration at Thornaby roundhouse by NELPG volunteers, the locomotive was resold to then NELPG Chairman Ian Storey. It became one of four engines restored by NELPG for the Stockton & Darlington Railway 150th anniversary celebrations at Shildon, in August 1975. Twice overhauled by Ian Storey himself at his own engineering works at Hepscott, Northumberland (1989-1991, and again from 2003-2009),
No. 44767 has worked widely on former BR metals since preservation, including six seasons on the Fort William-Mallaig ‘Jacobite’ trains between 1984 and 1997, and has been a guest at numerous preserved lines, including the North Yorkshire Moors, Severn Valley, Keighley & Worth Valley, Nene Valley, Mid-Hants, Bo’ness & Kinneil, Strathspey, Midland and Churnet Valley railways.