Ex-LT Pannier preservation
THANKS for a very interesting article in your August issue (When was the real end of BR steam?), which was a fascinating look back to the end of steam. I would draw attention to one error however – No. L92/5786 first moved to the Severn Valley Railway, initially for restoration into GWR green livery.
This was carried out at the carriage and wagon works at Bewdley under the guidance of Bob Timmins and Worcester Loco Society engineer the late Terry Dowding, formerly of Worcester Works and shed. The locomotive looked superb on completion, we as volunteers were extremely pleased with the finished product. Unfortunately, something happened between the railway and the owning group – so the locomotive was moved, as you say, to the Bulmers site at Hereford.
I have as a member of the loco department at the SVR been fortunate to have driven No. 5764, so thanks are due to all those people who had the foresight to purchase it and the other locomotives mentioned in article, and also to all the current staff who still keep these locomotives operational.
Trevor Davies
By email
BOTH No. L92 and the Worcester Locomotive Society’s Kitson saddle tank Carnarvon went first to the Severn Valley Railway at Bridgnorth in 1969, only moving to Hereford in 1970. No. 5786 is pictured (left) at Eardington being prepared for a trip to Tyseley Open day. Richard Moreton
By email
THE article ‘When was the real end of BR steam?’ repeats an often-quoted myth that the 57XX pannier tank was “numerically the largest steam class ever to run in the UK”. That accolade belongs to the LNWR’s Ramsbottom DX Goods 0-6-0, of which 943 were built. Close behind is the War Department 2-8-0, of which 935 were built, although for many their only UK mileage was from the factory to the docks for shipping. At 863 engines, the 57XX pannier tank was the third largest steam class.
In passing, it is worth noting that the most numerous of any traction type to run in the UK is the Class 08 350hp diesel-electric shunter, of which 996 were built.
Ron Head Didcot, Oxfordshire