ASPINALL CLASS ‘27’ 0-6-0 No. 52322 (LYR No. 1300)
Prior to No. 752’s welcome return, this has in recent years been the only working L&Y locomotive in preservation – appropriately, on part of the company’s former network, at the East Lancashire Railway.
It is the sole survivor of a 484-strong class introduced by Aspinall in 1889, providing a more powerful standard goods 0-6-0 to replace the ‘Ironclads’. The design proved to be long-lived, with 139 examples still in BR service in 1955, and the last – No. 52515 – not being withdrawn until December 1962.
Happily, No. 52322 was purchased from BR by public works contractor Leonard Fairclough, who had it restored it to LYR livery by apprentices at Horwich Works, in the guise of scrapped classmate No. 1122 (BR No. 52140) before placing it on display in his yard at the former White Bear station, on the line from Boar’s Head near Wigan to Adlington Junction near Chorley.
Following the death of Mr Fairclough, the engine moved to Steamtown Carnforth in 1976, returning to steam there in 1982. It saw regular use on the centre’s Crag Bank passenger shuttle service (on which it is reputed to have been the engine with the highest mileage) before arriving at the ELR in September 1995. Its current owner, Andy Booth, acquired it from its previous owners in 2003.
Its most recent full overhaul was completed at the ELR in July 2008, and its ‘ten-year’ boiler certificate was therefore originally due to expire in the summer of 2018. However, it underwent further boiler repairs after a low water incident in May 2009, and thus received a fresh ‘ten-year’ ticket in the summer of 2012, meaning that it should still be in action for the centenary of the LYR’s merger with the LNWR in 2022.
In addition to its regular work at the ELR, it tours other preserved lines; from Easter to mid-June this year, it is due to make its third appearance at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, and it is also booked to make a repeat visit to the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway from the August bank holiday to the end of September.