last actual Steam used by BR (standard gauge)

[Tio Terry]

I know there was a B1 used at Norwich for train heating the early morning London's. I was at Eaton Crossing signalbox when it passed on it's way to Norwich and I also saw it in Platform 1 one morning. But I don't remember when it was exactly.

 

[scarby]

One quite interesting snippet is:

Between 1963 and 1966, seventeen of the withdrawn B1s were converted for use as stationary boilers to heat coaching stock. These had their hooks removed so that they could not pull revenue earning services, but were still capable of moving themselves.

From:

https://www.lner.info/locos/B/b1thompson.phphttps://www.lner.info/locos/B/b1thompson.php

 

[Cowley]

One quite interesting snippet is:

Between 1963 and 1966, seventeen of the withdrawn B1s were converted for use as stationary boilers to heat coaching stock. These had their hooks removed so that they could not pull revenue earning services, but were still capable of moving themselves.

From:

https://www.lner.info/locos/B/b1thompson.phphttps://www.lner.info/locos/B/b1thompson.php

61264 used to be a stationary boiler which I think is how it ended up at Barry. Not sure when it was sent for scrap though.

 

[infobleep]

Many diesel locomotives were fitted with steam heating equipment, because (in many places) all the existing coaching stock used steam heating. Some Deltics were even equipped with water scoops to refill their water tanks on the move like express steam trains did!

As new coaching stock was built, supporting electric train heating, old diesels had their steam heating equipment removed, and newer ones were built with just ETH instead.

Wow. I didn't know water scoops surivied beyond steam engines. How fascinating.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Wow. I didn't know water scoops surivied beyond steam engines. How fascinating.

I remember photos of EE 4s (later Class 40s) in TI or Modern Railways picking up water on the WCML for their train heat boilers.

 

[70014IronDuke]

61264 used to be a stationary boiler which I think is how it ended up at Barry. Not sure when it was sent for scrap though.

I'm pretty sure all the steam heat B1s were withdrawn before 03.08.68. Not because I remember noting it, but because there was so much about the end of steam at the time that I'm sure it would have been pointed out time and time again that these were still in use - but I don't remember any such mention.

 

[Ploughman]

Saw this photo a few years back on another site.
Deltic at Langley troughs ECML
No other details known.
https://www.lner.info/forums/download/file.php?id=16617&t=1

 

[falcon]

There is another "survivor" here, 4MT 80002, at Cowlairs in April 1969:

http://www.eastbank.org.uk/images/Glasgow/UK0538.jpg

Although it looks okay externally, one assumes it had long ceased to be capable of independent movement, and did not do so after BR steam had finished. It was moved to the KWVR for preservation the following month.

Where did you get that photo from?

 

[Merthyr Imp]

61264 used to be a stationary boiler which I think is how it ended up at Barry. Not sure when it was sent for scrap though.

From https://www.thompsonb1.org/

'By 1965, the complete end of steam was in sight and 61264 was condemned in November of that year. Rather than being scrapped immediately, the loco became Departmental no. 29 and was allocated to stationary boiler duties, still at Colwick. There she became very run down, to the point of losing her centre driving wheels.

'Final withdrawal came in July 1967, whereupon the centre driving wheels were replaced and the engine was sold for scrap to Woodham Brothers of Barry, South Wales, where she had arrived by April 1968.'

 

[Cowley]

From https://www.thompsonb1.org/

'By 1965, the complete end of steam was in sight and 61264 was condemned in November of that year. Rather than being scrapped immediately, the loco became Departmental no. 29 and was allocated to stationary boiler duties, still at Colwick. There she became very run down, to the point of losing her centre driving wheels.

'Final withdrawal came in July 1967, whereupon the centre driving wheels were replaced and the engine was sold for scrap to Woodham Brothers of Barry, South Wales, where she had arrived by April 1968.'

Thanks for that. Quite a remarkable survivor then and I assume the only LNER design locomotive to have been rescued from Barry?
On stationary boilers and the end of steam generally - It is quite remarkable how mainline BR steam ended in August 1968 and seemingly that was pretty much it.
A fair amount of working steam in the country at the beginning of 1967 say - to nothing at all at the beginning of 1970 three years later. No stationary boilers anywhere, no overgrown scraplines with a couple of tank engines parked around the back of a shed maybe and no depot pet plinthed outside a railway works like you sometimes see in other countries.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Thanks for that. Quite a remarkable survivor then and I assume the only LNER design locomotive to have been rescued from Barry?

Yes, according to the website I linked to 61264 was the only ex-LNER design loco even to be sent to Barry.

 

[scarby]

Where did you get that photo from?

It was from these scenes from around Glasgow:

http://www.eastbank.org.uk/glasgow.htm

I'm pretty sure all the steam heat B1s were withdrawn before 03.08.68. Not because I remember noting it, but because there was so much about the end of steam at the time that I'm sure it would have been pointed out time and time again that these were still in use - but I don't remember any such mention.

You would think so. Though there's one or two examples of locomotives that were definitely hanging around after the end of mainline steam in August 1968. History wouldn't have to be re-written if any were used, as the story of the end of BR steam-hauled trains remains the same, though if one or two were used and actually moved under their own steam, one could say that on a technicality, BR steam hung on a little longer.

 

[Ploughman]

21st September 1968
Black 5 44781 at Bartlow on the Stour Valley line for the filming of Virgin Soldiers.
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/virgin_soldiers/index.shtml

Still present on 7th December 68.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

The B1s used on steam heating duties are listed on this site under their Departmental numbers:

http://www.abrail.co.uk/stationary_boilers.htm

According to the information there, the latest date for any to be withdrawn was April 1968.

According to this site:

https://www.lner.info/locos/B/b1thompson.php

'Between 1963 and 1966, seventeen of the withdrawn B1s were converted for use as stationary boilers to heat coaching stock. These had their hooks removed so that they could not pull revenue earning services, but were still capable of moving themselves. All of the stationary boiler B1s were withdrawn by 1968.'

 

[scarby]

Yes, that list is very informative.

Again, 4MT 80002 crops up in that list - "When it ceased SB use is not known but it was still at the depot in March 1969." All the photos I can find of it in 1969 show it standing in the same position, so presumably it had not moved under its own power for some time, but it would be interesting to know when its last independent movement was.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Information elsewhere on 80002 says it was purchased for preservation and towed to Keighley in May 1969. Said to have been in 'near scrapyard condition' at the time.

 

[Bevan Price]

Wow. I didn't know water scoops surivied beyond steam engines. How fascinating.

It seemed strange to see train heating boilers blowing off steam via the safety valves on a Class 40 or Peak....

 

[Cowley]

It seemed strange to see train heating boilers blowing off steam via the safety valves on a Class 40 or Peak....

I’m sure I’ve seen pictures of them being filled with water from platform end cranes in the early days?

 

[scarby]

Information elsewhere on 80002 says it was purchased for preservation and towed to Keighley in May 1969. Said to have been in 'near scrapyard condition' at the time.

Correct. I have found 3 photos on the web of it in the exact same position in photos dated 1969. By then it presumbly attracted attention as it would have been very unusual to see an intact steam loco simply standing in an active depot.

It seems unknown when it last moved under its own power, but one would presume it was before August 1968. As has been mentioned on this thread, a BR steam loco running around a depot/sidings under its own power would surely have attracted attention. Thus the poster on another forum saying that B1 No 30 "travelled light engine from Masbro' to Normanton for servicing and was used at Darnall and Heeley (Sheffield) carriage sidings" "in the winter of 1968-69" has surely transposed this memory by a year from 1967-68?

If we discount locos that had passed into preservation, such as 73050 travelling from Manchester to Peterborough in September 1968, there is a lack of compelling evidence that a BR standard gauge steam loco (excepting one or two converted to fixed-position stationary boilers) operated for work purposes after the well-documented period of August 3-11.

 

[Bevan Price]

Correct. I have found 3 photos on the web of it in the exact same position in photos dated 1969. By then it presumbly attracted attention as it would have been very unusual to see an intact steam loco simply standing in an active depot.

.

Not totally unusual; some stored steam locos remained at Lostock Hall depot into 1969, along with a few operating diesels.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

the poster on another forum saying that B1 No 30 "travelled light engine from Masbro' to Normanton for servicing and was used at Darnall and Heeley (Sheffield) carriage sidings" "in the winter of 1968-69" has surely transposed this memory by a year from 1967-68?

Yes, the entry for no. 30 on the site I linked to earlier states:

'Withdrawn from capital stock Feb 1966, it was transferred to Dept Stock as No. 30 and re-allocated to Barrow Hill MPD in September 1966. Withdrawn April 1968.'