Capital conclusion for Jubilee’s springtime farewell tour
A STALWART of the main line scene throughout the last decade, Chris Beet’s LMS Jubilee No. 45690 Leander will bow out of service in May as it falls due for overhaul – with a farewell tour of heritage railway visits announced set to conclude with a visit to the outskirts of London.
Its final months will commence with its appearance at the East Lancashire Railway for the Legends of Steam event on March 15-17, at which it is booked to appear alongside LNER A4 No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley and BR Standard Class 7 No. 70000 Britannia.
Previously billed as a steam gala to also feature members of the home fleet to allow for maximum seat availability on services behind the three iconic locomotives, they will instead be supplemented by a feeder DMU service shuttling between Bury and Ramsbottom.
Meeting the family
Leander will work solo for the majority of the three days, with a double-headed service with Britannia timetabled for the morning of March 17, commencing at Bury Bolton Street at 9.30am and running to Rawtenstall. It will then bank the return working to Bury before detaching and resuming solo duty.
Following this, No. 45960 will then head to the Lake District for a week which will see it united with the Beet family’s Ivatt 2MT No. 46441 for the first time at the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway. The 2MT was a regular sight on the routes around Lake Windermere, running from Morecambe to Lakeside via Ulverston; Jubilees also operated on the line and the appearance of Leander will make it the first of its class to do so since the 1960s.
Leander will first star in a sold-out photographic charter on March 22, before taking on the LHR’s first daily running services on March 23/24. There are also plans to undertake a private steaming of both the Beet family’s locomotives together at some point in the week beforehand, should there be sufficient time to do so.
Leander will next head south to Hampshire, where it shall then headline the Mid-Hants Railway’s April 26-28 steam gala, appearing alongside Bulleid light Pacific
No. 34070 Manston, which has been on loan to the Watercress line since December.
Full details were still to be confirmed, but it was expected that Urie S15 No. 506 and LMS Ivatt 2-6-2T No. 41312 will also be in service on passenger and goods workings, while Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 1788 Kilmersdon will be back from its holiday to Midsomer Norton and employed on short driver experience courses within Ropley yard once more.
The Jubilee’s final stop on its farewell tour is the Epping Ongar Railway, which has rescheduled its own steam gala to avoid clashing with the Mid-Hants event and cater for the Jubilee’s availability as a result.
A festival of steam will now take place over three consecutive weekends, with that of April 27/28 being a Western Weekend starring previously announced guest locomotive Saint class No. 2999 Lady of Legend running alongside resident Hall class No. 4953 Pitchford Hall.
Coincidently, the construction of No. 2999 utilised many parts from one of No. 4953’s classmates; No. 4942 Maindy Hall supplied many of its parts for the new-build project, including boiler, frames and motion, after the locomotive was bought by the Great Western Society specifically for the project in 1974.
Nos. 2999 and 4953 will work trains solo, double-headed and top-andtailed each day, providing ample opportunities to enjoy the sounds of them hard at work through the Essex countryside.
The first May bank holiday weekend will then see two WR 4-6-0s be joined by Leander, along with Bill Parker’s GWR small prairie No. L150 (5521) and EOR’s resident industrial Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-0ST No. 3437 Isabel, for a weekend of pure steam action across the 6 ½-mile former London Underground Central Line route.
With gradients as steep as 1-in-65, the locomotives will be put through their paces on an intensive timetable across all three days.
Although there is very limited parking available, vintage bus connections to National Rail’s Shenfield and LU’s Epping stations will make it easily accessible and allow for real ales to be enjoyed at the on-board bars right through into the evenings.
Final fling
The final weekend of the festival will take place on May 11/12, billed as Leander’s Last Hurrah, which will see No. 45960 out in service for the final time before its current boiler certification expires and its final fire is dropped.
The Jubilee will take pride of place over the weekend on services while also offering a rare opportunity for those wishing to take a turn at the controls on the Saturday.
EOR general manager George Saville said: “We are all immensely proud at the Epping Ongar Railway to be given the honour of being the last heritage railway that this icon of steam will operate at before it is withdrawn from service for its major 10-year overhaul.
“This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for us to have this classic steam locomotive run between Ongar and Epping”.