WITH TWO visiting Stanier locomotives, a matching pair of air-smoothed Bulleid ‘Pacifics’, and a 33-wagon goods train, the East Lancashire Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala on October 13-15 was a real showstopper.
Making a rare visit to a heritage line was Chris Beet’s Carnforth-based ‘Jubilee’ No. 45690 Leander. Normally found hauling main line railtours, the BR black 4 ‐ 6‐0’s main line ‘ticket’ expired on November 7. “We are looking to see if we can get an extension of the boiler based on its condition for heritage railways for a few months with a limited number of steamings,” Beet told Steam Railway, adding that plans are being made for what could be its final overhaul. “We’ve got a new tender tank ready to go, the boiler doesn’t need a terrific amount of work doing to it, subject to an NDT, and general stuff on the bottom end, axleboxes and the tender is pretty much there. If we didn’t do an overhaul, what would we do with it? I want to keep it running.”
Leander was joined by another visiting BR black Stanier locomotive: ‘8F’
No. 48305 from the Great Central Railway. On October 13, the 2 ‐ 8‐0 was charged with hauling the ELR’s longest ever goods train, which consisted of 33 wagons, as well as Class 24 D5054 (with the ‘8F’ recreating classic scenes from the 1960s by pretending to rescue the ‘failed’ diesel), while ELR ‘Jinty’ No. 47298 provided banking assistance. However, upon arrival at Ramsbottom, No. 48305 was failed with a faulty injector, leaving No. D5054 to take the train to Rawtenstall while the ‘8F’ returned to shed for repairs be
