The Great Railway Exposition 1830-1980

Resource Type: Image | Posted on 9th December 2011 by Liam Physick

This is the front cover of the leaflet marking the Great Railway Exposition. The leaflet shows a picture not just of the Rocket, but also two modern tender locomotives: one of those is numbered 6115, and the other has no number. LMS 6115 Scots Guardsman belonged to the Royal Scot Class, 4-6-0 express passenger locomotives built by Sir Henry Fowler, and launched in 1927 and 1930. They were built to pull expresses on the West Coast Main Line. 70 were built, the first 50, built in Glasgow, being launched in 1927, the remainder, built in Derby, launched in 1930. They were originally numbered 23595-23664 - the Scots Guardsman was numbered 23610 and launched in October 1927. Later, the Class was renumbered 6100-6169, with the Scots Guardsman becoming No. 6115: the Scots Guardsman also starred in the 1936 film Night Mail. The Royal Scot locomotives were all named after regiments in the British army. From 1933, the Royal Scots were taken off the top-link expresses in favour of the Jubilee and Princess Royal Class locomotives. Between 1943 and 1955, they were all rebuilt by Sir William Stanier (most of these were paper rebuilds and actually created entirely new locomotives, done to appease accountants and the wartime government): the Scots Guardsman was rebuilt in August 1947, and a year later was renumbered 46115 following nationalisation. All Royal Scots were withdrawn from service between 1962 and 1965 - the Scots Guardsman, in December 1965, was the last to be retired. It was then bought from British Rail by the late Bob Bill and in 1978 was restored to working order and ran on a number of main-line railtours until changed regulations put a stop to this. Following this, Peter Bill, son of Bob, sold the Scots Guardsman to the 46115 Scots Guardsman Trust, which delivered it to the Birmingham Railway Museum in Tylesely in 1989 for overhaul - however, it was neglected as other work was deemed higher priority. Purchased by the West Coast Railway Company, it was restored to main-line running condition in 2008, and made its first post-overhaul railtour on 16th August from Hellifield to Carlisle and back. One other Royal Scot was preserved: No. 6100 Royal Scot (originally 6152 The King’s Dragoon Guardsman, which permanently swapped identities with the first locomotive in the Class in 1933 when it was sent on tour to North America), which is owned by the Royal Scot Locomotive Trust and based at the LNWR Heritage workshops at Crewe, owned by the record producer Pete Waterman. Also visible on this leftlet is a barge: a strange choice given the hostility of the canals to the establishment of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

The Great Railway Exposition 1830-1980

Tagged under: steam locomotives, liverpool and manchester railway, tender locomotives, rocket, british rail, passengers, heritage railways, london midland and scottish railway, canals, manchester liverpool road station

Categorised under: The Station & Railway Pioneers

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