I WOULD RUN 500 MILES… 44871’S QUIET RECORD?

502 miles in a day… Did ‘Black Five’ No. 44871 unwittingly set a record at the end of 2019?

That’s the poser from its owner Ian Riley, whose 4-6-0 went on a marathon trek round England and Wales on November 23, notching up more than 500 miles in the process.

That, Ian reckons, might well be a post-1968 UK record. Even Flying Scotsman only(!) covered 422 miles on its epic 1989 run ‘Down Under’. Though, to be fair that was, of course, non-stop… (SR497).

So how did No. 44871 achieve this marathon feat 30 years later? For the following information I am indebted to Jack Johnson, who minded the ‘Black Five’ during its winter spell in London (and later the Nene Valley) on behalf of Riley & Son (E) Ltd.

Drivers for the staggered legs were: Dave Hewson (Southall to Swindon), Bill Montieth (to Shrewsbury), Mick Kelly (to Crewe) and Ray Poole (Crewe to Southall, via Bristol). Firemen for the Railway Touring Company’s

‘Ludlow Medieval Christmas Fayre’ were

Chris Yates (outward) and Fraser Birrell (return), who shovelled 16 tons of the black stuff between them.

Recognition should also go to Jack’s support crew, comprising just five other helpers, namely Ben Chapman, Fraser Birrell, Callum Porter, Ian Saunders and Nicky Carter.

For them, the day started with a 3.30am alarm; engine off shed at 5.52am; back on shed at half midnight on Sunday morning.

Without the efforts of (mainly volunteer) support crews, main line steam would be a fraction of its size – so thanks guys for your efforts.

To put the ‘Black Five’s’ mileage into some kind of context, by my rough back of a fag packet estimate, that is roughly the equivalent of Euston in the north western metropolis of the capital to Rannoch, high up in the splendid isolation of the West Highlands.