Lost 1968 ‘Black Five’ parts found

‘Black Five’ cab roof and boiler tube found at Bartlow, on site of The Virgin Soldiers filming.

Pieces of ‘Black Five’ No. 44781 have been rediscovered at Bartlow in Essex, more than 50 years after the ‘Fifteen Guinea Special’ locomotive was infamously scrapped there.

Following its starring role on BR’s final steam-hauled train on August 11 1968, the Stanier 4-6-0 was sold to Columbia Pictures and taken to the disused Saffron Walden branch at Bartlow, where it was disguised as Malayan Railways ‘L’ class ‘Pacific’ No. 531.03 for the filming of The Virgin Soldiers.

Saffron Walden businessman and enthusiast Gerald Pagano then negotiated to buy the engine from the film company for preservation, along with the LMS coaches also used for the ‘train crash’ scene, in which the ‘5MT’ had supposedly been blown off the track by guerrilla fighters.

But Mr Pagano was forced to abandon the purchase after BR quoted a price of £5,000 (around £86,000 in today’s money) to re-rail the locomotive and tow it to Steamtown Carnforth – and both it and the carriages were subsequently broken up on site by A. King & Sons of Norwich. Sources differ on whether the scrapping took place in December 1968 or January 1969.

With permission from private landowner Bartlow Estates, volunteers from the Colne Valley Railway and CVR-based ‘Black Five’ restoration group 45163 Ltd carried out an extensive search of the site on September 20 – retrieving the fireman’s side of the locomotive’s cab roof from the river at the bottom of the embankment.

Also discovered were one of the ‘5MT’s’ boiler tubes – and a window frame from one of the carriages. Flame-cut at the ends to remove it from the boiler, the tube matches the diameter of those from ex-Barry classmate No. 45293 at the CVR – and despite having been immersed in the river for 50 years, is still encrusted with scale.

Similarly, the cab retains some black paintwork, and the window frame – a BR-era addition to Stanier coaches owing to corrosion around the windows – bears traces of BR maroon livery and lining.

One unsubstantiated report suggests that during the scrapping, sections of the ‘Black Five’ were dragged across the adjacent field to the nearby road using a tractor. In an ironic parallel, a 1975 Land Rover belonging to CVR volunteer James Francis proved invaluable in hauling the cab roof back up the embankment onto the trackbed.

It is hoped to place the artefacts on public display at the CVR, possibly in the line’s new National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported museum (see story, right).

Steam Railway would like to hear from anyone who was on No. 44781’s scrapping gang, or employed by King’s at the time.

Ex-Barry ‘Black Five’ No. 45163 masquerades as its famous lost classmate No. 44781 at the Colne Valley Railway on September 21. In front are the cab roof and boiler tube from the latter engine discovered at Bartlow, as well as a window frame, and what is thought to be a fire extinguisher, from one of the LMS coaches.

Taken by ‘Master Neverer’ Tim Stephens on December 7 1968, this is the last known photograph of No. 44781 before it was cut up by King’s of Norwich. In the background, King’s men have already reduced the carriages to underframes and roofs.