Mid-table perhaps, but to some, ‘Footballers’ were always top of the league
IT WOULD have been easy for us East London trainspotters in the 1950s to have an inferiority complex. Named locomotives were at the core of our hobby, and those spotters frequenting the lines running north out of the capital enjoyed such locomotives as Princess Coronations, Princess Royals, Royal Scots and Gresley Pacifics. Those in the west had Kings, Castles, Granges and Halls, and those south of the Thames savoured Bulleid Pacifics, King Arthurs, Schools and Lord Nelsons.
For the spotters on the lines out of Liverpool Street, there were just the B17s, Britannias and the occasional oddly-named B1, a triumvirate which, with the greatest of respect to Nigel Gresley, Robert Riddles and Edward Thompson, was hardly the stuff of dreams.
However, we had two aces up our sleeves, thanks to the B17s. Firstly, these were our locos, built specifically for our route and thus mainly confined to our part of the country and secondly, they carried names that were simply magnificent to teenage enthusiasts, such as Manchester United, Liverpool and our very own club, West Ham United.
And that wasn't all, for the nameplates' pièce de résistance was that they incorporated brass semifootballs and the colours of the club after which the locomotives were named – a brilliant masterstroke by the LNER.
Built between 1928 and 1937 at Darlington Works and by North British Loco and Robert Stephenson & Co, the 73-strong class was officially classified B17 and semi-officially the Sandringhams after the pioneer No. 61600. To us trainspotters they were ‘Footballers,' and from our myopic viewpoint their names were far more interesting than royalty, aristocracy, or posh schools.
My logbook is punctuated by ‘Footballers' coming through my home station of Ilford from April 1957, and on various days that month I noted Nos. 61630 Tottenham Hotspur, 61650 Grimsby Town, 61651 Derby County, 61654 Sunderland, 61655 Middlesbrough, 61656 Leeds United, 61661 Sheffield Wednesday, 61662 Manchester United, 61668 Bradford City and 61669 Barnsley. All but one were on Ipswich, Clacton, or Yarmouth/Lowestoft expresses, the exception being No. 61661 on a Goodmayes freight working.
Among the B17s I recorded that month were 11 other members of the class, named mostly after historical buildings rather than soccer clubs, but we spotters weren't too pedantic and regarded them as honorary ‘Footballers.'
Last survivor
Withdrawals started in earnest in 1958, when 22 of the 73 were withdrawn, and by August 1960 all had gone, the last survivor being Stratford (30A) resident No. 61668. The ‘Brits' continued to give us namers, the last of which I recorded at Ilford on August 2, 1961, when
No. 70011 Hotspur came through on a Down Clacton express.
If I'd closed my eyes I could have pretended the 4-6-2 was named after a London football club and not a 14th century English knight.
These Standard Pacifics were finelooking and worthy locomotives, but failed to fire the senses or carry the aura of the ‘Footballers', and with the latter's passing there was a vacuum felt by even we pragmatic and unemotional teenagers, although the memories faded as the years passed.
Now, however, they have been brought to the fore by Great Northern Books' latest publication, Gresley's B17s, compiled and written by the prolific railway author Peter Tuffrey. He must have felt rather at home with the subject as, among other positions over the years, he is a former media consultant to Doncaster Rovers, after which B17 No. 61657 was named.
This is the 15th volume which Peter, who was born in Doncaster in 1953, has written for Great Northern Books, and it has more than 180 photographs of almost the entire class, at such familiar locations as Liverpool Street, Stratford, Ipswich, Norwich and Yarmouth, as well as further north, with detailed captions helping to paint the picture.
The first photograph is of class leader No. 2800 Sandringham as new in a North British Locomotive
Company works image in December 1928, and the last our beloved
No. 61672 West Ham United at Ipswich in the mid-1950s. In between there's a parade of the class that is sufficient to satiate the appetite of the most ardent fan.
In his introduction, Peter uses a football analogy by writing – probably realistically – that of the Nigel Gresley locomotives, the B17s were mid-table or bottom half, but he sweetens that pill by ending: “Although perhaps largely unknown to the general public, some enthusiasts remember the B17s fondly.”
We do indeed, Peter.
➜ Gresley’s B17s, compiled and written by Peter Tuffrey (Great Northern Books, hardback, 144 pages, £22.50, ISBN 978-1-912101-26-9).