London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

(LNER) Thompson Class B1 No. 1264, (later

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 ...

No. 61264, and Departmental No. 29) is a preserved British steam locomotive.

Service

1264 was built in 1947 by the

North British Locomotive Company The North British Locomotive Company (NBL, NB Loco or North British) was created in 1903 through the merger of three Glasgow locomotive manufacturing companies; Sharp, Stewart and Company (Atlas Works), Neilson, Reid and Company (Hyde Park Wor ...

, Works No. 26165. It was initially allocated to Parkeston Quay (shed code 30F), near

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

, for working the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

, and would remain there for 13 years. In January 1948, 1264 passed into the ownership of

, and in March it was allocated the number 61264, though this was not applied until October 1949. The class were given the power classification 5MT by BR. In November 1960, 61264 was transferred from Parkeston Quay to Colwick Depot (38A), near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, for working the

Great Central Main Line The Great Central Main Line (GCML), also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), is a former railway line in the United Kingdom. The line was opened in 1899 and built by the Great Central Railw ...

. It would remain there until it was withdrawn in December 1965.

Departmental service

That was not the end of its BR service however as it was transferred to departmental stock, and renumbered 29 in the Eastern Region departmental stock series. There it was used as a mobile boiler for heating carriages. It had its couplings removed so it couldn't haul trains, but could still propel itself. 29 was withdrawn from departmental stock in July 1967. It was initially stored, but in March 1968 it was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

Preservation

However, luck was on its side: 61264 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 Bar ...

scrapyard,

Barry Island Barry Island ( cy, Ynys y Barri) 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 Chann ...

, the only former LNER locomotive to be sent to Barry. By the time the locomotive was rescued from scrap in 1973, the 83rd engine to leave Barry, it was the last surviving ex-LNER locomotive not preserved. Restoration took some time; the boiler and firebox were in such poor condition that a new boiler and firebox seemed the only option, but steady work during the 1980s and 1990s restored the original boiler and the completed engine moved under its own power in 1997, finished in LNER Apple green as No. 1264. It is currently in BR Black livery as 61264. It was withdrawn from service (mid-2008) for a 10-year overhaul at LNWR

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

and, once finished moved to 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 ...

. 61264 returned to the mainline in 2014 with a test run in early January followed by double-heading the ''Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express'' from

Manchester Victoria Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was ...

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

with LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 45407 organised by the Railway Touring Company. From December 2012 until July 2022 the locomotive was based at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and used on both mainline railtours alongside the NYMR's services between Grosmont and

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

. The locomotive is now based at the

Nottingham Heritage Railway The Nottingham Heritage Railway (formerly known as Great Central Railway (Nottingham) and Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre) is a heritage railway and transport museum on the south side of the village of Ruddington in Nottinghamshire. The ...

and is in the process of undergoing a

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

standard overhaul.https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2022/07/new-nottinghamshire-home-for-steam-locomotive-no-1264.html New Home found for 61264 in Nottinghamshire 61264 is one of two surviving Thompson Class B1s, but the only LNER-built example, the other being BR-built 61306.

References

{{reflist

External links

www.facebook.com/B1locotrust

Thompson B1 Locomotive Trust
4-6-0 locomotives NBL locomotives Preserved London and North Eastern Railway steam locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1947 Locomotives saved from Woodham Brothers scrapyard