Leeds United ...... the loco

[grumpytramp]

I stumbled on quite by accident the photo above in the ever excellent Backtrack Magazine [http://www.pendragonpublishing.co.uk/]It shows B17/6 No. 61656 named "Leeds United" on the turntable at Ipswich Station in May 1959She (well locos were always ladys) was built for the LNER at the Darlington works in 1936 and was originally numbered 2856 before acquiring her BR number 61656. The design, B17 or otherwise known as the Sandringham or Footballer Class was by Sir Nigel Gressley in a 4-6-0 configeration and was adopted from the classic Gressley A1 Pacific Class. She was rebuilt in 1953 with a larger boiler and greater working pressure to her final configeration as a B17/6. She was finally withdrawn (and scrapped I think) in January 1960.Loads of technical stuff here about the Class:http://www.lner.info/locos/B/b17.shtmlThe other football clubs in the class were:Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City, Arsenal, Sheffield United, Grimsby Town, Derby County, Darlington, Huddersfield Town, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Doncaster Rovers, Hull City, Sheffield Wednesday, Manchester United, Everton, Liverpool, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, Bradford, Bradford City, Barnsley and West Ham UnitedWhich kind of hints at where these locos plied their trade (and mentions of course for Darlington who are no longer in the top flight of football and of course for the Bradford (Park Avenue) who disapeared from conciousness in the late 1960s?)

[trophy]

despite the names most of these were shedded at ipswitch or cambridge it is unlikely any of these made their way to this area.

[jim]

As Trophy points out, "Sandringhams" ( as the B17s were known, after the first of the class ) did not normally work into Leeds. Engines of the class had regular turns to Doncaster and Sheffield from March depot.There was, however, a regular working from Doncaster on Tuesday mornings if I remember correctly, which was used for "running in" locomotives which had received overhauls at the Plant Works there. The B17s were in their later years overhauled there, and occasionally ( but rarely ) appeared in Leeds on that turn when on test.The first forty-eight of the class were named after stately homes, and one of them carried the name "Harewood House".

[dogduke]

The Doncaster test trains ran for many years on a 'Q' as requiredpath.In my days it was diesels and ran fromDonny via the Askern branchand the S&K(Swinton and Knottingley) via Ponte Baghill to york and return.I think some of the nameplates for locos with football club namesare in the NRM at York and have a football shape in the actual nameplate.If the test runs were for a Western Region loco and proved O.K there was an afternoon crosscountry service from York/Doncaster that the overhauled loco was used to work back 'home'(always provided that the crew knew how to drive the traction,if not conductors on the traction would haveto be provided from the nearest depot with knowledge)

[trophy]

Ithought they must have been overauled at doncaster but i never saw one either at leeds or doncaster although they were being replaced by britannias in the late fifties.

[railnut]

Most name plates [or one of the pair] were presented to the clubs and Leeds United received their's. Is it still displayed withinin the directors lounges?Did Bradford City get theirs? Newcastle have theirs prominently on display near the tunnel [ap't]

[Riponian]

Wonder if the lads at Darlington would be interested? The B17 is an extinct class like the Peppercorn A1 was, and I'm sure it'd be nicely at home in Wensleydale or the NYM perhaps?

[drapesy]

railnut wrote: Most name plates [or one of the pair] were presented to the clubs and Leeds United received their's. Is it still displayed withinin the directors lounges?Did Bradford City get theirs? Newcastle have theirs prominently on display near the tunnel [ap't] I know Hull City had theirs above the tunnel at their old Boothferry Park ground, though I dont know if its displayed at the new KC Stadium.

[jim]

If you are thinking of a new build B17 Riponian, there is already a project to build TWO! One would be a fully working version, the other none-working. I think the idea is to have just one operating boiler ( a very major expense and ongoing maintenance problem ) and to exchange the working boiler for the "dummy" boiler as required. It is also proposed to build two different pattern tenders, one G.E.R. short wheelbase version and the other L.N.E.R.group standard pattern and exchange those as required. I believe the idea is to have one named after a stately home, and one after a football club.There seems to be a sudden burst of new build steam locos under construction to cover types which escaped the preservation movement, probably following the success of A1 "Tornado". Off the top of my head I can think of the following also currently under construction:-G.W.R. 2900 "Saint".G.W.R. 1000 "County"4-6-0.G.W.R. Railmotor.L.M.S "Patriot".N.E.R G5.L.B.S.C.R H2 Atlantic.B.R. "Clan".B.R. 84000 or 82000.And proposals for ( but still not commenced, or seeking backing ):-G.W.R 4700.G.W.R 3800 "County" 4-4-0.G,W.R. "County Tank".L.N.W.R. 4-4-0 ( George the Fifth or Precursor ).G.E.R. 2-4-2 Tank.G.C.R. D6. ( or D7, memory failure! )There will certainly be others, but I can't remember everything!