London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Jubilee Class No. 5690 (BR No. 45690) ''Leander'' is a preserved

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Operational history

5690 was built at Crewe in March 1936 and named ''Leander'' after HMS ''Leander'', which in turn was named after the

Greek hero Hero cults were one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. In Homeric Greek, "hero" (, ) refers to the mortal offspring of a human and a god. By the historical period, however, the word came to mean specifically a ''dead'' ma ...

Leander. From March 1936 it was based at Crewe North shed where it remained until 1947 when it was transferred to the former LMS engine shed at

Bristol (Barrow Road) British Railways shed codes were used to identify the engine sheds that its locomotives and multiple units were allocated to for maintenance purposes. The former London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) alpha-numeric system was extended to co ...

. After nationalisation in 1948, it was renumbered 45690 by British Railways. After being withdrawn in 1964, ''Leander'' was sold to

Woodham Brothers Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Barry Scrapyard), ...

scrapyard A wrecking yard ( Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard ( Irish, British and New Zealand English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are bro ...

Barry, South Wales Barry ( cy, Y Barri; ) is a town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, on the north coast of the Bristol Channel approximately south-southwest of Cardiff. Barry is a seaside resort, with attractions including several beaches and the resurrected Bar ...

Preservation

Rescued by Brian Oliver in May 1972, it was restored by the Leander Locomotive Society at Derby and later kept at the Dinting Railway Museum, Glossop. After later purchase by and running on the

Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...

, ''Leander'' was sold to Dr Peter Beet, and restored to running condition on the

East Lancashire Railway East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, , Summerseat and Ramsbottom, with ...

in LMS Crimson Lake livery. As of 2008, ''Leander'' was owned by Chris Beet (Engineering and Rail Operations Manager,

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...

) and operated by the

West Coast Railway Company West Coast Railways (WCR) is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator based at Carnforth MPD in Lancashire. Using buildings and other facilities previously owned by the Steamtown Carnforth visitor attraction, in June 1998 the comp ...

from their

Carnforth MPD Carnforth MPD (Motive Power Depot) is a former London Midland and Scottish Railway railway depot located in the town of Carnforth, Lancashire, England. Completed in 1944 on the site of the former Furness Railway depot, its late construction in ...

base. In 2008, ''Leander'' provided motive power for the

Scarborough Spa Express The ''Scarborough Spa Express'' (SSE) is a regular summer heritage steam locomotive service between and . It is currently operated by the West Coast Railways, but has been operated in previous years by different companies, including the Railway ...

heritage service. It also spent October at 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 ...

"Steam Railway" gala, alongside ''Britannia'' Class No. 70013 ''Oliver Cromwell'' and LNER Peppercorn Class A1 No. 60163 ''Tornado''. In September 2010, ''Leander'' visited the

(SVR) for their 40th anniversary Autumn steam gala alongside fellow visiting locomotives and former Severn Valley based engines 2251 Class No. 3205, No. 3717 ''City of Truro'', 4575 Class No. 5542 and West Country Class No. 34070 ''Manston''. ''Leander'' departed from the SVR at the beginning of October hauling the ''Severn Valley Limited'' to Blackpool North one way only as the locomotive was en route to the

for a few weeks stay during their Autumn Steam Gala. Shortly afterwards, ''Leander'' returned to

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 ...

and mainline operation. In April 2012, ''Leander'' was withdrawn early for overhaul due to its poor condition. Chris Beet managed the overhaul, assisted by the team at

from their

base. It returned to operation in October 2014, painted in BR Lined Black, the livery that it carried between 12 April 1949 and 15 November 1952, and which was also carried by 46 other members of the class from August 1948. Its first revenue earning run was to be over Shap Summit to Carlisle and back along the

Settle–Carlisle line The Settle–Carlisle line (also known as the ''Settle and Carlisle'' (S&C)) is a main railway line in northern England. The route, which crosses the remote, scenic regions of the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines, runs between Settle J ...

on 24 January, but it failed its FTR exam so its first revenue earning run was over Shap Summit to Carlisle, Newcastle upon Tyne, York, Manchester and Preston on 7 March 2015. In July 2022, ''Leander'' suffered a failed super heater element while working ''The Waverley'' railtour on 10 Jul 2022. The engine was failed in Carlisle and dragged back to

Hellifield Hellifield is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England (). Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village was once an important railway junction on the Settle-Carlisle Railway between th ...

behind a British Rail Class 47 no 47804 before being taken back to Carnforth MPD. As of November 2022 the engine is still undergoing repairs following its failure.

Fame in Preservation

To mark the re-opening of the Conwy Valley line in August 2019 following a closure period after suffering from multiple washouts inflicted from Storm Gareth, on 3 August 2019 ''Leander'' double headed the ''Conwy Quest'' railtour from Chester to Blaenau Ffestiniog via

Llandudno Junction Llandudno Junction ( cy, Cyffordd Llandudno), once known as Tremarl, is a village in the county borough of Conwy, Wales. It is part of the ancient parish of Llangystennin, and it is located south of Llandudno. It adjoins Deganwy and is to the ...

while double heading with 48151. It was also covering for the unavailable LMS Royal Scot No. 46115 Scots Guardsman which had been failed days before with a hot axlebox during a test run. With the route's gradient being 1 in 45 heading towards Blaenau Ffestiniog, no members of the class ran along the branch in LMS & BR days and until Aug 2019 none had been down the branch in preservation. 45690 was therefore the first member of the class to run along the Conwy Valley Line and visit Blaenau Ffestiniog. The journey from Chester to Llandudno Junction & from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llandudno Junction was done with the engines running tender first with the other legs being with the engines running chimney first.https://www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/10s/190803tf.htm Six Bells Junction timings

References

External links

{{commons category, LMS Jubilee Class 5690 Leander
Jubilees detail

Railuk database
5690 Preserved London, Midland and Scottish Railway steam locomotives Locomotives saved from Woodham Brothers scrapyard Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain