LMS Stanier Class 8F 8151 (

British Rail 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 ra ...

ways No. 48151) is a preserved British

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, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

History

8151 was built at

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 1840, employed around 7,000 to 8,000 workers at its peak. In the 1980s, a lo ...

in 1942 by the LMS as one of the 8F Class. Following nationalisation in 1948, 40000 was added to the class's original numbers and so in 1949 it was renumbered to 48151. The engine originally was allocated to Grangemouth TMD and spent over thirteen years at Grangemouth before being transferred to Canklow in July 1955. Other sheds the engine was allocated to included Staveley in January 1963, Edge Hill (8A) in April 1964, and finally

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

in March 1966. The engine remained at Northwich for its remaining working career for

ways until January 1968, when it was withdrawn from service. 48151 was one of the last 359 steam engines operating on British mainline railways, those still in service in 1968.

Preservation

48151 was sold to

Woodham Brothers Woodham Brothers Ltd is a trading business, based mainly around activities and premises located within Barry Docks, in Barry, South Wales. It is noted globally for its 1960s activity as a scrapyard (hence its colloquial name of Barry Scrapyard ...

scrapyard on

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 Chan ...

for in September 1968, and remained there until November 1975 when it was purchased for preservation. 48151 was based at the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway for a number of years, but its restoration was not completed there. It was then bought by David Smith and after its heavy restoration was completed in 1988 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 th ...

, it was certified for mainline use and is currently 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 Carnforth MPD#Steamtown Carnforth, Steamtown Carnforth visito ...

(WCR) working steam charters across the UK, running on lines never visited before by an 8F. Tripleheadedsteamtrain

In November 1995, it was loaned for a short time to Tunstead Quarry to haul a 975-ton train of hopper wagons, and five years later in December 2000 it als worked a special one-off freight train along the

Settle and Carlisle line Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ''S ...

from

Hellifield Hellifield is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England (). Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village was once an important railway junction on the Settle-Carlisle Railway between the ...

to Ribblehead Quarry where the hopper wagons were loaded. It then worked the loaded train on from Ribblehead Quarry to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

. Also in 2000, it made its first operational visit to a heritage railway, when it visited 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 ...

for a brief period in June of that year, as well as making a brief visit back to Staveley the following month, now the

Barrow Hill Engine Shed Barrow Hill Roundhouse, until 1948 known as Staveley Engine Shed, is a former Midland Railway roundhouse in Barrow Hill, near Staveley and Chesterfield, Derbyshire (), now serving as a railway heritage centre. History Staveley Roundhouse wa ...

. In October 2003, 48151 worked its first train over Shap Summit since the end of steam in 1968, the charter was operated by WCR and ran from Carnforth to Carlisle via Shap both ways. In August 2008, 48151 worked the

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

leg of the ''

Fifteen Guinea Special The ''Fifteen Guinea Special'' was the last main-line passenger train to be hauled by steam locomotive power on British Rail on 11 August 1968 before the introduction of a steam ban that started the following day, the extra day added to allow fo ...

'' reenactment which was celebrating 40 years since the ending of steam on BR in August 1968, it was covering for 45110 as its mainline certificate had run out. This was also to be the first time since 1966 that 48151 had visited Liverpool since being allocated to Edge Hill. In August 2010, it became the first member of its class to work over the Conwy Valley Line. The train was the Railway Touring Company's ''Welsh Mountaineer'' from

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,000 ...

running via

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and

Llandudno Junction Llandudno Junction ( cy, Cyffordd Llandudno), once known as Tremarl, is a village in the county borough of Conwy, Wales. It is part of the ancient parish of Llangystennin, and it is located south of Llandudno. It adjoins Deganwy and is to the ...

, the section from Chester to Llandudno Junction being tender first due to the train reversing direction at the junction alongside the fierce 1 in 47 gradient in the Blaenau direction. The engine has visited the route on a number of occasions in July and August 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2018 with other trips being worked by 45231 ''The Sherwood Forester'', 46115 ''Scots Guardsman'' and 61994 ''The Great Marquess''. In August 2019, 48151 hauled the ''Conwy Quest'' from Chester to Blaenau Ffestiniog via Llandudno Junction while double heading with 45690 Leander. This trip was run to mark the re-opening of the Conwy Valley Line following a closure period due to damage inflicted from Storm Gareth which resulted in numerous washouts. In April 2012, it worked the first steam railtour from

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

since 1995, the train in question being

Compass Tours Compass Tours was a UK railtour organiser specialising in excursions with heritage diesel locomotives such as the Class 37, Class 40 and Class 47 and also using Steam Engines such as the LMS Black 5. A pro-rail company, Compass Tours heavil ...

"Roses Express" which ran from Southport to

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

traveling out via Eccles and returning via

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ce ...

. 48151 was also the first member of its class to visit the resort as no 8F's were allocated to

Southport Derby Road MPD Southport MPD (Motive Power Depot) is a former LMS railway depot located in the town of Southport, Merseyside.45699 ''Galatea'' and 46115 ''Scots Guardsman''. The three engines travelled from Carnforth to

Dereham Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles (40&nb ...

on Thursday, 29 May in triple headed formation along with a set of coaches as most of the

Mid-Norfolk Railway The Mid-Norfolk Railway (MNR) is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway, one of the longest in Great Britain. Preservation efforts began in 1974, but the line re-opened to passengers only in the mid-1990s as part of the "new generation" o ...

's coaches weren't vacuum braked. The three engines then ran at the MNR's West Coast Railways steam gala from Friday, 30 May to Sunday, 1 June and then on Monday, 2 June, the three engines returned to Carnforth once more travelling as a triple headed formation. On 14 June 2014, it worked only its second train over Shap Summit for the first time since October 2003, the train this time being the Railway Touring Company's ''Cumbrian Coast 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 ...

. The 8F took over the train 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 ...

and worked northbound over Shap's 1 in 75 to Carlisle with the return leg being via

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle, Cumbria, C ...

and

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish located on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District National Park. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,042, increasing at the 2 ...

on the

Cumbrian Coast The Cumberland dialect is a local Northern English dialect in decline, spoken in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands, not to be confused with the area's extinct Celtic language, Cumbric. Some parts of Cumbria have a m ...

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 thr ...

s. In July 2018, its third Shap Summit train was the Railway Touring Company's ''Cumbrian Mountain Express'' that ran from London Euston to Carlisle on Saturday, 21 July. The engine's two previous trips up Shap was worked alon, but due to a restricted use of steam engines on

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 ...

lines due to the hot weather at the time, 48151 was assisted by a Class 47 diesel No. 47237. The return route of this tour was via the

Settle and Carlisle Line Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ''S ...

. In March 2019, the Conwy Valley Line was temporarily closed following multiple washouts along the route inflicted by Storm Gareth. The damage from the storm had left sections of the line suspended in the air as the embankments had been washed away and other sections were under water which made the route unsafe for rail traffic. Following repair work to mark the reopening of the line "

Transport for Wales Rail Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operations of ...

" in co-operation with "

" ran a train called "The Conwy Quest" which ran from Chester to Blaenau Ffestiniog via Llandudno Junction on Sat 3 Aug.https://tfwrail.wales/the-conwy-quest/ The Conwy Quest Railtour, Sat 3rd Aug 2019 The load that was to be hauled on the day which was 9 coaches required the special to be double headed (the gradient being 1 in 40 in the Blaenau direction alongside the tight curves would be too much for the 8F to cope with alone). 46115 Scots Guardsman was the original second engine intended to work with 48151 however owing to a hot axlebox days before while on a test run following completion of its overhaul her place was taken by 45690 Leander.

References

External links

{{Commons category, LMS Stanier Class 8F 8151 Preserved London, Midland and Scottish Railway steam locomotives 8151 Individual locomotives of Great Britain Railway locomotives introduced in 1942 Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain