LOCOMOTIVES FROM opposite ends of the power and size spectrums were in action at the East Lancashire Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala on October 11-13.
Fresh from its exploits masquerading as Lickey banker ‘9F’ No. 92079 (see separate story, pages 22 ‐23), North Yorkshire Moors Railway-based single-chimney BR 2 ‐1 0‐0 No. 92134 was the star guest at the ELR’s three-day event. It was a homecoming of sorts for the ‘Spaceship’, which had been based at the railway from 2016 until 2018, when it moved to the NYMR, returning to steam there in September 2019. The 1957-built ‘9F’ showed its strength on the Saturday night, hauling a mammoth 15-coach train from Bury to Rawtenstall and back. No. 92134 carried a ‘C797’ BR reporting board for this train; in the 1960s, a batch of ‘9Fs’ were allocated to Newton Heath shed for working Blackpool specials during the summer, for which they carried the ‘C797’ reporting number. The board used on No. 91234’s run was an original item, made available for the event by enthusiast Steve Leyland.
The opposite end of the scale was a pair of smaller guest locomotives: Furness Railway No. 20 and recently overhauled Andrew Barclay 0 ‐ 4‐0ST Works No. 1969 J.N. Derbyshire, both attending courtesy of the Ribble Steam Railway, having recently starred in the Preston line’s own gala two weeks previously (see pages 28 ‐29). The pair were primarily employed on short-line brake van shuttles during the event, while mechanical problems that arose on the Friday evening briefly side-lined No. 20 on the Saturday morning, with ex ‐Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway ‘Pug’ 0 ‐ 4‐0ST No. 11243 taking its booked turns until the 1863-built locomotive returned to service later that morning.
Also in action from the ELR’s home fleet were ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway ‘Class 23’ 0 ‐ 6‐0ST No. 11456 (in its recently applied LMS livery), air-smoothed ‘West Country’ No. 34092 City of Wells, ‘Jinty’ 0 ‐ 6‐0T No. 47298, and rebuilt Hunslet ‘Austerity’ 0 ‐ 6‐0 No. 2890 ‘Douglas’.
The ELR described the gala as “another well attended, well planned and well run event”, with positive visitor numbers and revenue over 2023’s autumn steam gala. It added: “The brake vans rides and Furness 20 were popular over the three days, so congratulations to the event organisers and steam department for their efforts.”
