London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

(LMS) Stanier Black Five, LMS number 4767, BR number 44767 is a preserved

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

. In preservation it has carried the name ''George Stephenson'' though it never bore this in service with British Railways.

Service

Black 5 George Stephenson 7 (5441137329)

4767 was completed on the last day of the LMS, 31 December 1947 at

Crewe Works Crewe Works is a British railway engineering facility located in the town of Crewe, Cheshire. The works, which was originally opened by the Grand Junction Railway in 1840, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s, a lot ...

. It was unique amongst the 842-strong class in that it featured outside Stephenson link motion in addition to other experimental features; a

double chimney A double chimney (or double stack, double smokestack in American English) is a form of chimney for a steam locomotive, where the conventional single opening is duplicated, together with the blastpipe beneath it. Although the internal openings form ...

, Timken

roller bearing In mechanical engineering, a rolling-element bearing, also known as a rolling bearing, is a bearing which carries a load by placing rolling elements (such as balls or rollers) between two concentric, grooved rings called races. The relative m ...

s throughout and electric lighting. These modifications were part of a series of experiments by

George Ivatt Henry George Ivatt (4 May 1886 – 4 October 1972), known as George Ivatt, was the post-war Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. He was the son of the Great Northern Railway locomotive engineer Henry Ivatt. ...

to improve the already excellent

William Stanier Sir William Arthur Stanier, (27 May 1876 – 27 September 1965) was a British railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. Biography Sir William Stanier was born in Swindon, where his ...

-designed Black Five. 4767 was renumbered 44767 by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

after nationalisation in 1948. Its double chimney was removed in 1953. It was withdrawn in December 1967 after a working life of only 20 years.

Allocations

44767 was only transferred between sheds five times during its career with British Railways with it is first allocation being to Crewe North and it is final allocation being at Carlisle Kingmoor. The list below shows the shed locations of 44767 on particular dates.http://brdatabase.info/locoqry.php?action=locodata&type=S&id=446003110&loco=4767 Shed Allocations for 44767.

Preservation

44767 was purchased directly from British Railways for preservation by Ian Storey and was stored at

Carnforth Carnforth is a market town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, situated at the north-east end of Morecambe Bay. The parish of Carnforth had a population of 5,560 in the 2011 census, an increase from the 5,350 reco ...

until 1974 when it was taken to

Thornaby Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,74 ...

for restoration to running order by the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group. Restoration work was complete for the 150th anniversary of the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Darl ...

in 1975. At

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...

, the former

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

William Whitelaw William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, (28 June 1918 – 1 July 1999) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as ''de fac ...

named 44767 after famous railway engineer

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...

. A plaque below its nameplates reads:

This locomotive was named by the Right Hon. William Whitelaw C.H. M.C. M.R. at Shildon on August 25th 1975 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

In 1988, it was featured in 'The Thistle' music video by

Jesse Rae Jesse Rae (born 1951) is a Scottish singer and composer from St Boswells in Scotland. Career In the 1970s Rae moved to the US securing work as a runner in the New York Stock Exchange to fund his stay. Through work in Cleveland and Los Angeles ...

. Filming locations on the

West Highland Line The West Highland Line ( gd, Rathad Iarainn nan Eilean - "Iron Road to the Isles") is a railway line linking the ports of Mallaig and Oban in the Scottish Highlands to Glasgow in Central Scotland. The line was voted the top rail journey in th ...

with Glenfinnan Viaduct. The locomotive saw regular use along the mainline, including services in Scotland. The locomotive was based on the

North Yorkshire Moors Railway The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, that runs through the North York Moors National Park. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by Georg ...

before being taken out of service at the end of 2002 for a full overhaul. In December 2009, 44767 returned to steam at Morpeth in Northumberland, where it was overhauled, from where it was moved to the

Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...

for running in and painting. Between May and September 2010, 44767 was in use at the

North Norfolk Railway The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned and operated as a public limite ...

, before visiting the

West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset County Council; the railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc); which is ...

for their Autumn Gala. It then spent the winter of 2010 at the

Churnet Valley Railway The Churnet Valley Railway is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway in the Staffordshire Moorlands of Staffordshire, England. It operates on part of the former Churnet Valley Line.which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway. ...

, before visiting the

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is a heritage railway line in the Worth Valley, West Yorkshire, England, which runs from Keighley to Oxenhope. It connects to the National Rail network at Keighley railway station. History Inception and ...

for their winter steam gala in February 2011. It then returned to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway for the 2011 season, before returning to the

for the 2011 winter season, although its stay there was curtailed due to firebox troubles. Following a two-year repair effort, the engine re-entered service at the North Norfolk Railway in February 2014, where it ran for the rest of the year, before moving to Swanwick at the

Midland Railway – Butterley The Midland Railway – Butterley is a heritage railway at Butterley, near Ripley in Derbyshire. History Overview The ''Midland Railway – Butterley'' lies on the Ambergate to Pye Bridge line of the old Midland Railway, a line once con ...

to undergo work. In September 2018, 44767 was sold to the West Coast Railway Company.

References

External links

{{commons category, LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 4767
Railuk database

Preserved British Steam Locomotives, 44767

44767 Preserved London, Midland and Scottish Railway steam locomotives Individual locomotives of Great Britain Railway locomotives introduced in 1947 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain