LMS Stanier Class 5MT 4932, is a preserved British steam locomotive. It is one of 18 surviving members of the
Black 5 class which had 842 members constructed by five manufacturers. 44932 is the sole remaining member of the class which was built at the
LMS's
Horwich Works
Horwich Works was a railway works built in 1886 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) in Horwich, near Bolton, in North West England when the company moved from its original works at Miles Platting, Manchester.
Buildings
Horwich Work ...
.
Overview

4932 was built in 1945 by the
LMS at their
Horwich Works
Horwich Works was a railway works built in 1886 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) in Horwich, near Bolton, in North West England when the company moved from its original works at Miles Platting, Manchester.
Buildings
Horwich Work ...
– works no. 154. It was renumbered as 44932 by
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 after the 1948 nationalisation of Britain's railways.
After completion at Horwich Works it was allocated to Blackpool Central's 24E Shed where it remained for nearly six years until January 1952 when it was transferred to
Accrington
Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...
near
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...
. Further shed transfers were to follow throughout its career with
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 including
Agecroft - Greater Manchester,
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
,
Annesley
Annesley is a village and civil parish in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, between Hucknall and Kirkby-in-Ashfield. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,162 (including Annesley Woodhouse to the west), and this inc ...
and
Derby
Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...
. Its final shed allocation was
Rose Grove's 10F shed where it was allocated to in both July 1965 and from March 1966 till its withdrawal in August 1968. Its service life was just under 23 years.
Allocations
The shed locations of 44932 on particular dates:
Preservation

After being bought from British Railways for preservation it was used on the mainline between overhauls. It in the early days of preservation wore lined brunswick green.
Acquired in 2008 by David Smith it was based at
West Coast Railway's
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 ...
base. The engine as of 2018 was undergoing another overhaul with plans to return to the mainline on completion.
In August 2022 the engine returned to service following an overhaul at Carnforth MPD outshopped in British Railways lined black with British Railways lettering on its tender. The engine carried this livery from January 1948 until early 1949 before being changed to the cycling lion crest, in preservation the engine also wore this livery while mainline certified in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The engine undertook its first test run on 10 August running from Carnforth to
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 ...
and back, and the engine worked its first revenue earning trip down 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 ...
while hauling the return leg of a "Cumbrian Coast Express" railtour from Carlisle to Carnforth on 24 September 2022. The
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 ...
via
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, ...
&
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 ...
to London Euston legs being worked by
British Rail Class 86
The British Rail Class 86 is a class of electric locomotives built during the 1960s. Developed as a 'standard' electric locomotive from earlier prototype models, one hundred of these locomotives were built from 1965 to 1966 to haul trains on t ...
No. 86259
Les Ross
Leslie Ross MBE (né Meakin; born 7 February 1949) is a British disc jockey in the West Midlands. He currently presents a radio programme on BRMB.
Early life
Born in Birmingham, Ross wanted to be a DJ writing to the general manager of Radio ...
.
Following completion of the engines latest overhaul in 2022, the engine is planned to be trialled out with the fitment of
ETCS
The European Train Control System (ETCS) is a train protection system designed to replace the many incompatible systems used by European railways, and railways outside of Europe. ETCS is the signalling and control component of the European ...
(in-cab signalling) alongside
LNER Peppercorn Class A1
London and North Eastern Railway's (LNER) Peppercorn Class A1 is a class of 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives largely built between 1948 and 1949 at Doncaster Works, Doncaster and Darlington Works to a design of Arthur Peppercorn. Forty-nin ...
4-6-2 No.
60163 Tornado, as part of Network Rail's "Pathfinder Project" which is being undertaken to assess the fitment of in-cab signalling to heritage locomotives.
Fame in Preservation
In 2013 during the 45th anniversary celebrations of the end of steam in August 1968, it took part in two special one off railtours, the first was on Wednesday 7 August working one of the Statesman Rail's Fellsman trains which was renamed for the occasion "The Fifteen Guinea Fellsman" which it ran in double headed form with
45231 ''The Sherwood Forester'' from
Lancaster
Lancaster may refer to:
Lands and titles
*The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire
*Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies
*Duke of Lancaster
*Earl of Lancaster
*House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty
...
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 ...
and back via
The Settle and Carlisle line. For this trip 44932 acted as pilot to 45231 and it wore the 1T57 Headboard for the occasion alongside the regular Fellsman headboard.
Four days later on Sunday 11 August it took part in the 45th anniversary run marking the end of steam on Sunday 11 August 1968. 44932 & 45231 were to once again double head with each other but this time 44932 was to act as train engine to 45231 which was acting as pilot engine.
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/42802953@N03/9490211204 45231 & 44932 at Ais Gill] The two engines were in charge of the Carlisle to
Longsight
Longsight is an inner city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester City Centre, city centre, bounded by Ardwick and Gorton, West Gorton to the north and east; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park, Man ...
, (
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 tour. The two locos worked the special south down the Settle and Carlisle line to
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 ...
and then down the
Ribble Valley Line
The Ribble Valley line is a railway line that runs from through , in Lancashire, to in North Yorkshire. Regular passenger services normally run as far as , but occasional passenger services run the whole line through north Lancashire to Hell ...
to
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...
before taking the branch to
Darwen
Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners".
The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...
and
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 ...
before arriving at Longsight where the two engines were replaced by classmate
45305 which would return the train to
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 ...
. Other locos to take part in the tour included 45305 which took the train from Liverpool to Longsight in the morning and then back in the evening and
70013 Oliver Cromwell which worked the train from Longsight to Carlisle.
References
External links
{{commons category
15 Guinea Special, Aug 11 2013
Preserved London, Midland and Scottish Railway steam locomotives
44932
Individual locomotives of Great Britain
Railway locomotives introduced in 1945
Standard-gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
4-6-0 locomotives