LNER Thompson Class B1 61306
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LNER LNER may refer to: * London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947 * London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018 * Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...
Thompson Class B1 61306 is a preserved British steam locomotive. In preservation, it has carried the LNER-derived number 1306 and the name ''Mayflower'', complete with LNER Apple Green Livery, though this guise is entirely fictional as the engine was BR built. 61306 now runs wearing BR Apple Green with British Railways lettering.


Service

61306 was built in 1948 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. 26207. Though built to an LNER design, it was delivered after nationalisation to
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 ...
(BR). 61306 was initially allocated to Hull Botanic Gardens Depot (shed code 53B). In June 1959 it was transferred to nearby Hull Dairycoates Depot (53A). Its final allocation in June 1967 was to
Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
Low Moor depot (56F), but it was quickly withdrawn in September 1967.


Preservation

61306 was privately purchased for preservation at
Steamtown Carnforth 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 th ...
, one of just two preserved Thompson B1s, the other being LNER-built No. (6)1264. At Steamtown it was painted into LNER Apple Green Livery, given the number 1306 and the name ''Mayflower''. 1306 would have been its allocated running number had the LNER not been nationalised (most ex-LNER BR numbers being the LNER 1946 numbers with the addition of 60000), while the name ''Mayflower'' came from a scrapped BR-built Thompson B1, numbered 61379. In 1978, it 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 ...
in Leicestershire, where it remained until 1989 when it was taken out of service for a ten-year overhaul. Scheduled to return to Hull Dairycoates, the sale of the site meant that it moved to the
Nene Valley Railway The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mere, ...
. Sold privately in 2006 to the Boden family, it moved to their company, Boden Rail Engineering Ltd, in
Washwood Heath Washwood Heath is a ward in Birmingham, within the formal district of Hodge Hill, roughly two miles north-east of Birmingham city centre, England. Washwood Heath covers the areas of Birmingham that lie between Nechells, Bordesley Green, Stechf ...
, Birmingham. In 2013, it returned to steam wearing its original BR Apple Green livery and 61306, 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 Steamtown Carnforth visitor attraction, in June 1998 the com ...
from their base at the former Steamtown Carnforth. In 2014, 61306 was sold by the Boden family to David Buck and moved to 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 ...
. It was prepared there for full mainline running, operating the ''
Cathedrals Express The ''Cathedrals Express'' was a named passenger express introduced in 1957 on the Western Region of British Railways. It connected the cathedral cities of Hereford and Worcester to . The service started on 16 September 1957 and was operated s ...
'' from
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
to
Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
, its first mainline operating since the mid-1970s. In February 2019 for its first revenue earning run after emerging from an overhaul and testing 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 ...
61306 double headed with SR Merchant Navy no 35018 British India Line while hauling The Railway Touring Company's "Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express" that ran from
London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...
to
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 ...
on Sat 2 Feb. The two engines, with 61306 acting as pilot to 35018, took over the train from 86259 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 ...
for the run to Carlisle via Shap. The return leg took the two engines south down the Settle and Carlisle,
Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clitheroe. ...
&
East Lancashire Line The East Lancashire line is a railway line in the Lancashire region of England, which runs between Preston and Colne, through Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley (Barracks and Central) and Nelson. The line formerly ran onto Skipton but this closed ...
s to Preston where 86259 took over. During Summer 2019, it operated three regular, one-way, Tuesdays only, services from Waterloo to Windsor and Eton Riverside, being the first regular steam-operated service from that London terminus for 52 years, alongside a steam excursion on the same day. In June 2022 the engine was acquired from David Buck by
Jeremy Hosking Jeremy John Hosking (born 20 July 1958) is a British businessman and political donor. Ranked number 351 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2019, with a net worth of £375 million, he is a shareholder in Crystal Palace F.C. and a noted railway e ...
owned "Locomotive Services Group". The engine alongside operating the Steam Dreams programme of railtours will also become part of the LSL pool of engines.https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2022/06/steam-dreams-and-61306-mayflower-acquired-by-crewe-based-locomotive-services-group.html 61306 and Steam Dreams change hands


References


External links

{{commons category, LNER Class B1 61306
1306 Mayflower Group
4-6-0 locomotives NBL locomotives Preserved London and North Eastern Railway steam locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1948