D1040 Western Queen is to be resurrected by the WLA

Locomotive Association has announced it will be temporarily changing the identity of Class 52 ‘Western’ diesel-hydraulic D1062 Western Courier as long-scrapped D1040 Western Queen to celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The WLA owns two of the seven surviving Class 52s, both of which are based on the Severn Valley Railway, and the decision to recreate D1040 comes as a number of heritage railways are coming up with ideas to celebrate the jubilee. D1062 is painted into BR blue livery with full yellow ends, which was also carried by D1040, and the locomotive is not expected to be repainted, as its paintwork remains in good condition.

The first public appearance of the locomotive in its new guise will be at the SVR’S Spring Diesel Festival, which takes place on May 19-22.

D1062 is currently the only operational preserved Class 52, although the Diesel Traction Group is forging ahead with repairs to main line-registered D1015 Western Champion following its engine seizure last year while operating a loaded main line test train. D1040 entered traffic with BR on September 20, 1962 and operated for less than 15 years, being withdrawn on February 27, 1976, working its final train the day before, and was scrapped six months later. BR’S decision to withdraw its diesel-hydraulic fleets meant the 74 Class 52s were all withdrawn after a relatively short working life. The WLA was founded in 1974 and purchased D1062 from British Rail two years later. The locomotive returned to service and worked its first trains in preservation in May 1977, just three months after the final ‘Westerns’ had been withdrawn by BR. The WLA also purchased D1013 Western Ranger in August 2004 from its previous owner, with this locomotive having been placed in the care of the WLA following its preservation.

The WLA’S decision to recreate D1040 comes after the announcement that Severn Valley Railway-based ‘West Country’ 4-6-2 steam locomotive 34027 Taw Valley is to be repainted purple in time for the jubilee celebrations and the locomotive will be renamed Elizabeth II.

February 26 marked the 45th anniversary of the final British Rail train worked by the ‘Westerns’, when D1013 Western Ranger and D1023 Western Fusilier hauled the ‘Western Tribute’ tour from London Paddington to Swansea and Plymouth, before returning to the capital. Both of the final locomotives survive in preservation, with D1013 undergoing an overhaul by the WLA at Kidderminster and D1023 is now part of the National Collection and displayed at the Railway Museum in York.

A profile on the Western Locomotive Association will appear in the next issue of Railways Illustrated.