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LNER Route: Leicester to Marylebone

Rugby Central Station: gcrcs282

British Railways Standard Class 5 4-6-0 No 73156 on a Class B passenger service southbound from Rugby Central

British Railways Standard Class 5 4-6-0 No 73156 with the 6:00pm Leicester to Woodford Halse local service on Saturday 8th September 1962. Built by Doncaster Plant in December 1956, No 73156 was to remain in service until October 1967 when it was withdrawn from 9K Bolton shed from where it was sold to Woodham Brothers at Barry, ultimately to be preserved.

History of No 73156's Shed Allocations

Motive Power Depot Allocation Date
Neasden [34E] December 1956
Sheffield (Millhouses) [41C] Apr 1958
Sheffield (Grimesthorpe) [41B] Jan 1959
Derby [17A] (a fleeting allocation) Sep 1960
Neasden [14D] Sep 1960
Leicester Central [15E] Jun 1962
Woodford Halse [2F] Mar 1963
Cricklewood [14A] May 1963
Leamington Spa [2L] Oct 1964
Tyseley [2A] Jun 1965
Bolton [9K] Apr 1966

Barry and beyond

On withdrawal from service in October 1967 the locomotive was sold for scrap and sent to Woodham Brothers’ yard, Barry, arriving there in January 1968. Purchased by the Bolton Steam Locomotive Co Ltd on November 9th 1985 No 73156 was transported to the workshops of the East Lancashire Railway at Bury the following year. Regular visits to Barry were made in order to prepare her for this event and upon arrival at Bury, work started immediately on stripping the loco. Much of the work comprised de-rusting, dismantling, cleaning and assessing the removed components for re-use or as patterns for new components not covered by available drawings. It is impossible to itemise every job done during the Bury years, especially the trials and tribulations along the way, but significant progress was made.

The locomotive was transferred from the ELR at Bury to the GCR at Loughborough in 2002 for the remainder of the restoration. The BR1B tender from 73156 was sold off during the engine’s time at Barry, so a new tender is being constructed from scratch. A new tender chassis has been completed and is now at Loughborough awaiting delivery of the new tender tank, which is currently at Bury and is almost complete. All outstanding motion parts have been manufactured and fitted to the loco. Work on the cab sheeting, frames, wheel cleaning and painting, piping up and brake gear, as well as the machining of many components and boiler/firebox inspections summarises work carried out at Loughborough. The boiler and firebox overhaul, the last major task, is now being undertaken.

The full restoration of No 73156 to working order is (in July 2017) now at a very advanced stage. For more information see http://73156standard5group.co.uk/

Tony Newman

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