6201 ''Princess Elizabeth'' is a preserved

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 ...

in England. It is one of two preserved

LMS Princess Royal Class The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Princess Royal Class is a class of express passenger 4-6-2 steam locomotive designed by William Stanier. Twelve examples were built at Crewe Works, between 1933 and 1935, for use on the West Coast ...

; the other being 46203 ''Princess Margaret Rose''.

Service

6201 was built in November 1933 at the

London, Midland & Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

's (LMS)

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 ...

, the second of its class. It was named after the 7-year-old elder daughter of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II). Despite the class officially being named after 6200 ''Princess Royal'', the class received the nickname "Lizzies" after 6201. After nationalisation in 1948,

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 (BR) renumbered it 46201. It was withdrawn in October 1962. During its working career for the LMS it wore the famous LMS Crimson Lake livery (this livery is also what it has worn for most of its preserved career), alongside this it even wore LMS black. During its career with BR it wore both brunswick green and black, both of which were lined.

Allocations

The shed locations of 6201/46201 during its career with the LMS and BR on particular dates.

Preservation

Following withdrawal in November 1962, 46201 was bought by the then Princess Elizabeth Locomotive Society straight from service. Initially it was kept at the Dowty Railway Preservation Society's premises at

Ashchurch Ashchurch is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ashchurch Rural, in the Tewkesbury district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England, east of the town of Tewkesbury, southwest of Evesham, north of Cheltenham, north-n ...

, and then subsequently at the Bulmers Railway Centre in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

. When the Bulmers Centre closed in 1993, the loco moved to the Midland Railway Centre,

Butterley Butterley is a village in the civil parish of Ripley, in the Amber Valley district, in the county of Derbyshire, England. The area is dominated by the now disused site of the Butterley Company and the Butterley Reservoir. It is the headquarte ...

. An overhaul of the locomotive and tender was started there, but with most work spread between both the

Tyseley Locomotive Works Tyseley Locomotive Works, formerly the Birmingham Railway Museum, is the engineering arm of mainline railtour operator Vintage Trains, based in Birmingham, England. It occupies part of the former Great Western Railway's Tyseley TMD, Tyseley dep ...

and

Riley & Son Riley & Son (E) Ltd, is a railway locomotive engineering and refurbishment company. Founded in 1992 as Ian Riley Engineering, the company has been a leader in main line steam haulage, being one of the pioneers of fitting air brake, TPWS and O ...

in Bury, the locomotive was not completed until 2002. After a brief spell at

Crewe Heritage Centre Crewe Heritage Centre is a List of British railway museums, railway museum located in Crewe, England. Managed by the Crewe Heritage Trust, the museum is located between the railway station and the town centre; the site was the location of the 'Ol ...

in 2009, it was withdrawn from service in July 2012 for a piston and valve examination at the Tyseley Locomotive Works, and after repairs it returned to service on 17 November hauling the

Vintage Trains Vintage Trains is a charitably-controlled train operating company established in 1964. Based at Tyseley Locomotive Works, Birmingham, they provide heritage railtours in the United Kingdom over the UK rail network. Their trains are usually for ...

' ''Cumbrian Mountaineer'' working the train from to via the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

and then returned via the Settle-Carlisle line from Carlisle to where a diesel took the train to Tyseley. It was withdrawn for overhaul at the end of December 2012 having completed its longest period of operation in preservation. It returned to steam in June 2015 after a heavy overhaul and was featured in Tyseley's open weekend on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June 2015. It would not be until 2016 that it would return to service on the main line, following which it was based down in London at

Southall Railway Centre Southall Railway Centre is a non-publicised Heritage railway, railway heritage centre at Southall in west London, near Southall railway station and the Grand Union Canal. Formerly of the Great Western Railway, the site is now run partly by Locom ...

working rail tours in the southern half of the UK. On 23 August 2016, ''Princess Elizabeth'' hauled its inaugural main line train of the Steam Dreams' ''

Cathedrals Express The ''Cathedrals Express'' was a named passenger express introduced in 1957 on the Western Region of British Railways. It connected the cathedral city, cathedral cities of Hereford and Worcester, England, Worcester to . The service started on 1 ...

'' from to on the

West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset Council. The railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc), which is suppor ...

via , and and return. It was withdrawn from service in late 2016 due to multiple problems being found with the locomotive's boiler and it was decided to carry out the repairs at the Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust's (PRCLT) West Shed at in Derbyshire. The repair work was later transferred to Carnforth. 6201 returned to service in 2019 and is now part of

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 ...

pool of engines based at

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 t ...

for trips in the north of Britain.

Diamond Jubilee and Royal Train

As part of the

Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for Queen Victo ...

, on 3 June 2012, after arriving in London with a

rail tour from heading to , ''Princess Elizabeths whistle signalled the start of the

Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant was a parade on 3 June 2012 of 670 boats on the Tideway of the River Thames in London as part of the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of t ...

while the locomotive was standing on Battersea Railway Bridge. The Queen was made aware of the locomotive and waved to the crew on the footplate. On 11 July, ''Princess Elizabeth'' hauled the

Royal Train A royal train is a set of railway carriages dedicated for the use of the king or other members of a royal family. Most monarchies with a railway system employ a set of royal carriages. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial tr ...

from to and again from to as part of the Diamond Jubilee Tour. The loco carried the traditional four-lamp combination (one lamp at the top of the smokebox and three on the buffer lamp irons) used on trains conveying the Head of State, although no headboard was carried. It was only the second time in preservation that the Queen had been conveyed on a steam-hauled Royal Train on the main line, the other occasion in 2002 was also with an LMS locomotive but one of the bigger

LMS Coronation Class The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Coronation Class is a class of express passenger steam locomotives designed by William Stanier. They were an enlarged and improved version of his previous design, the LMS Princess Royal Class, and ...

locomotives No. 6233 ''Duchess of Sutherland''. 6201 was the standby engine for the 2002 royal train. It is believed that it was the first time that the Queen had travelled behind the locomotive that was named after her and the event came just a few weeks before the 50th anniversary of the preservation of the loco, which has been owned by the Princess Elizabeth Locomotive Society longer than under both the LMS and British Railways together which owned the engine from 1933 until 1962 (29 year working life). Image:Princess Elizabeth nameplate and crown.jpg, Princess Elizabeth's nameplate with the crown placed above, showing the engine has worked the royal train. Image:Royal Train plaque on 6201.jpg, The plaque placed on 6201 to mark the occasion that it hauled the royal train for HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Current status

From 2016, 6201 was located at PRCLT's West Shed at Butterley in Derbyshire. On 22 February 2018 it was moved to

for boiler repairs and other general maintenance by

. The move from Butterley to Carnforth was completed by two West Coast Railways diesel locomotives. In September 2023 it was announced that following two years of storage at Carnforth after the engine was withdrawn from traffic in October 2021 due to leaks in the engines firebox throatplate, a start has been made on 6201's next overhaul. In March 2024, it was announced by the engines owners that an assessment is ongoing with 6201 to estimate the cost of the engines overhaul and dismantling of the engine is now underway. The engines overhaul will include a full retube alongside repairs or replacement of worn parts and attention to the engines firebox throatplate.

References

External links

{{commons category, LMS Princess Royal Class 6201 Princess Elizabeth, 6201 Princess Elizabeth
6201 Princess Elizabeth Locomotive Society Ltd

Railuk database
6201 Preserved London, Midland and Scottish Railway steam locomotives P Individual locomotives of Great Britain 4-6-2 locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1933 Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain