LMS Stanier Class 8F 8151
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LMS Stanier Class 8F 8151 (
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
ways No. 48151) is a preserved British
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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
.


History

8151 was built 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 March 1843, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s ...
in 1942 by the LMS as one of the 8F Class. Following nationalisation in 1948, 40000 was added to the class's original numbers and so in 1949 it was renumbered to 48151. The engine originally was allocated to Grangemouth TMD and spent over thirteen years at Grangemouth before being transferred to
Canklow Canklow is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Canklow is less than south from Rotherham town centre and approximately north-east from Sheffield city centre. It forms part of the Boston Castle ward for the Metropolitan Borough of ...
in July 1955. Other sheds the engine was allocated to included Staveley in January 1963, Edge Hill (8A) in April 1964, and finally
Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...
in March 1966. The engine remained at Northwich for its remaining working career for
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
ways until January 1968, when it was withdrawn from service. 48151 was one of the last 359 steam engines operating on British mainline railways, those still in service in 1968.


Preservation

48151 was sold to
Woodham Brothers Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, Wales, Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Ba ...
scrapyard on
Barry Island Barry Island () is a district, peninsula and seaside resort, forming part of the town of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is named after the 6th century Saint Baruc. Barry's stretch of coast, on the Bristol Channel, has the wor ...
for in September 1968, and remained there until November 1975 when it was purchased for preservation. 48151 was based at the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway for a number of years, but its restoration was not completed there. It was then bought by David Smith and after its heavy restoration was completed in 1988 at Carnforth MPD, it was certified for mainline use and is currently operated by
West Coast Railways 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 Carnforth MPD#Steamtown Carnforth, Steamtown Carnforth visito ...
(WCR) working steam charters across the UK, running on lines never visited before by an 8F. In November 1995, it was loaned for a short time to Tunstead Quarry to haul a 975-ton train of hopper wagons. In 2000, it made its first operational visit to a heritage railway, when it visited 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 Great Central Main Line, London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company ...
for a brief period in June of that year, as well as making a brief visit back to Staveley the following month, now the
Barrow Hill Engine Shed Barrow Hill Roundhouse, until 1948 known as Staveley Engine Shed, is a former Midland Railway roundhouse in Barrow Hill, near Staveley and Chesterfield, Derbyshire (), now serving as a railway heritage centre. History Staveley Roundhouse wa ...
. In December 2000, it worked a special one-off freight train along the Settle and Carlisle line from
Hellifield Hellifield is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England (). Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village was once an important railway junction on the Settle-Carlisle Railway between ...
to Ribblehead Quarry where the hopper wagons were loaded. It then worked the loaded train on from Ribblehead Quarry to
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
. In October 2003, 48151 worked its first train over
Shap Summit Shap Summit refers to three different route summits in close proximity, of the A6 road (England), A6 road, M6 motorway and the highest point of the West Coast Main Line railway in England, near to the Cumbria village of Shap in North West England, ...
since the end of steam in 1968, the charter was operated by WCR and ran from Carnforth to Carlisle via Shap both ways. In August 2008, 48151 worked the
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
to
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
leg of the ''
Fifteen Guinea Special The ''Fifteen Guinea Special'' was the last main-line passenger train to be hauled by steam locomotive power on British Rail on 11 August 1968 before the introduction of a steam ban that started the following day, the extra day added to allow fo ...
'' reenactment which was celebrating 40 years since the ending of steam on BR in August 1968, it was covering for 45110 as its mainline certificate had run out. This was also to be the first time since 1966 that 48151 had visited Liverpool since being allocated to Edge Hill. In August 2010, it became the first member of its class to work over the Conwy Valley Line. The train was the Railway Touring Company's ''Welsh Mountaineer'' from Preston to
Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog () is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,0 ...
running via
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
and
Llandudno Junction Llandudno Junction (), once known as Tremarl, is a town in the Community (Wales), community of Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Llandudno Junction and neighbouring Deganwy are both part of the built-up area and community of Conwy. It take ...
, the section from Chester to Llandudno Junction being tender first due to the train reversing direction at the junction alongside the fierce 1 in 47 gradient in the Blaenau direction. The engine has visited the route on a number of occasions in July and August 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2018 with other trips being worked by 45231 ''The Sherwood Forester'', 46115 ''Scots Guardsman'' and 61994 ''The Great Marquess''. In April 2012, it worked the first steam railtour from
Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...
since 1995, the train in question being Compass Tours "Roses Express" which ran from Southport to
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
traveling out via Eccles and returning via
Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...
. 48151 was also the first member of its class to visit the resort as no 8F's were allocated to Southport Derby Road MPD in steam days. In May 2014, it made only its second appearance at a heritage railway when it alongside fellow 10A based engines 45699 ''Galatea'' and 46115 ''Scots Guardsman''. The three engines travelled from Carnforth to
Dereham Dereham (), also known historically as East Dereham, is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of the England, English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about west of the city of Norwich ...
on Thursday, 29 May in triple headed formation along with a set of coaches as most of the
Mid-Norfolk Railway The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway, one of the longest in Great Britain. Preservation efforts began in 1974, but the line re-opened to passengers only in the mid-1990s as part of the "new generation" o ...
's coaches weren't vacuum braked. The three engines then ran at the MNR's West Coast Railways steam gala from Friday, 30 May to Sunday, 1 June and then on Monday, 2 June, the three engines returned to Carnforth once more travelling as a triple headed formation. On 14 June 2014, it worked only its second train over Shap Summit for the first time since October 2003, the train this time being the Railway Touring Company's ''Cumbrian Coast Express'' that ran from
London Euston Euston railway station ( ; or London Euston) is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line ...
to
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
. The 8F took over the train 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 ...
and worked northbound over Shap's 1 in 75 to Carlisle with the return leg being via
Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...
and
Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park. In the United Kingdom Census 201 ...
on the
Cumbrian Coast Cumbrian dialect or Cumberland dialect is a local dialect of Northern England in decline, spoken in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands. Some parts of Cumbria have a more North-East English sound to them. Whilst clear ...
and
Furness Line The Furness line is a British railway between and , joining the West Coast Main Line at . A predominantly passenger line, it serves various towns along the Furness coast, including Barrow-in-Furness, Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands. It runs th ...
s. In July 2018, its third Shap Summit train was the Railway Touring Company's ''Cumbrian Mountain Express'' that ran from London Euston to Carlisle on Saturday, 21 July. The engine's two previous trips up Shap was worked alon, but due to a restricted use of steam engines on
Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
lines due to the hot weather at the time, 48151 was assisted by a Class 47 diesel No. 47237. The return route of this tour was via the Settle and Carlisle Line. In March 2019, the Conwy Valley Line was temporarily closed following multiple washouts along the route inflicted by
Storm Gareth A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an Astronomy, astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a th ...
. The damage from the storm had left sections of the line suspended in the air as the embankments had been washed away and other sections were under water which made the route unsafe for rail traffic. Following repair work to mark the reopening of the line "
Transport for Wales Rail Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Governme ...
" in co-operation with "
West Coast Railways 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 Carnforth MPD#Steamtown Carnforth, Steamtown Carnforth visito ...
" ran a train called "The Conwy Quest" which ran from Chester to Blaenau Ffestiniog via Llandudno Junction on Sat 3 Aug. The load that was to be hauled on the day which was 9 coaches required the special to be double headed (the gradient being 1 in 40 in the Blaenau direction alongside the tight curves would be too much for the 8F to cope with alone). 46115 Scots Guardsman was the original second engine intended to work with 48151 however owing to a hot axlebox days before while on a test run following completion of its overhaul her place was taken by 45690 Leander. In August 2019, 48151 hauled the ''Conwy Quest'' from Chester to Blaenau Ffestiniog via Llandudno Junction while double heading with 45690 Leander. This trip was run to mark the re-opening of the Conwy Valley Line following a closure period due to damage inflicted from Storm Gareth which resulted in numerous washouts.https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2019-03-25/flood-damaged-railway-could-be-closed-for-months/ ITV news report on Conwy Valley line damage


References


External links

{{Commons category, LMS Stanier Class 8F 8151 Preserved London, Midland and Scottish Railway steam locomotives 8151 Individual locomotives of Great Britain Railway locomotives introduced in 1942 Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain