All the promotional material I had seen for Barrow Hill Live had mentioned that one of the visiting locomotives, which would be in steam, would be LNER B1 number 61264. I was a little confused therefore to see a B1 named Impala, number 61002, in steam. Not knowing how many B1 locomotives has been preserved, I just assumed it was a last minute change that hadn't been announced. It turns out though that the locomotive was 61264 just masquerading as Impala.
From a little bit of research the only surviving B1 locomotives are 61264 and 61306. A little further digging and I found that 61264 has been temporarily renumbered to 61002 as part of the 40th anniversary festival of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Apparently, prior to being scrapped, the real 61002 had pulled trains from Whitby to Grosmont, Pickering and beyond, along what is now the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. I'm assuming it will revert back to being 61264 next time it is painted.
A great sight.....I can't really believe there are only two remaining. There must have been hundreds built.
ReplyDeleteWell, assuming the wikipedia page is correct, 410 were built between 1942 and 1952, so 99.5% of them were scrapped!
DeleteThe more I see them the more nostalgic I get and the more it makes me realise what magnificence they actually represented. I would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that a large part of Britain's wealth depended on steam at one time.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe that they were a common sight at one time. I remember standing in Stalybridge station as a young lad and a B1 came through...I hadn't seen one before, having moved recently from Crewe. I asked my companion, a new school friend, what it was and he replied laconically "a demic" (rubbish) ...luckily I took the number!
ReplyDelete