Simmering at York Station

The second of the steam hauled specials at York railway station on Saturday was pulled by locomotive 44871 and came from London Kings Cross.

Sadly, from a photographers point of view, it pulled into platform 11, the most difficult platform to get good shots.

Locomotive 44871 was built at Crewe Works in 1945, and was one of 842 simular locomotives built between 1934 and 1951. They continued in service until the end of steam on British Railways in 1968, and this locomotive operated part of the journey of the last steam operated service on 11th August 1968.

It was sold to Dr Peter Beet and Graham Ellis and based at Carnforth in north Lancashire. Initially it could not operate on British Railways because there was a complete ban on steam locomotives being used. From 1972 the ban was slowly lifted and this locomotive was amogst the first to be used to haul special trains.

In 2006 44871 was sold to Riley and Son (E) Ltd who operate a railway locomotive engineering and refurbishment company, based in Bury. It received an overhaul and returned to steam in 2009. In 2010 it worked on the West Highland line in Scotland. Over the following few years it also spent time on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and the East Lancashire Railway as well as pulling excursions on the main line.

Eighteen locomotives of this type are preserved, and another one of them would appear at York station shortly after this one arrived.

Ian

[Bill Davidson]

An excellent shot.

[Pat]

Brilliant shot of all that lovely steam and metal, big fav!

[Margaret Brown]

Super shot!

[Cordiander]

You managed to take a great photo despite platform 11.

[carol white]

Great close up of steam in action.Fav😊

[Judith Johnson]

Fantastic close-up composition of the engine

[Pammy Joy]

Lovely shot, I love steam trains

[Babs]

What a fabulous shot. fav.

[Junan Heath]

Fantastic shot!

[Rob Z]

So much action with all that wonderful steam...

[Granny7(Denise)]

Super cool. Instant fav

[John Falconer]

Great narrative to go with this photograph of a beautiful steam train.

[Philippa R]

Lovely story and a fascinating study of the engine! (To self: one day I'll get a train set)

[Joan Robillard]

Amazing

[Pyrrhula]

To be complete. Send me the smell of it. Fav.

[Larry Steager]

Very cool capture.

[Christine Sztukowski]

WOW what a fantastic capture fav

[CC Folk]

A beautiful capture...fav.

[Corinne C]

A fabulous capture!

[gloria jones]

Brilliant!

[bkb in the city]

Great capture

[Kathy A]

Fabulous capture of the steam

[Oli Lindenskov]

Great shot👍😊

[Brian]

Love the narrative and the shot from a difficult position

[Boxplayer]

Ah but this is great, just like out of a Victorian station scene

[Dione Giorgio]

Beautiful capture. I find something romantic in these steam trains. Each seems to have a character of its own.

[Fisher Family]

@billdavidson @pattyblue @craftymeg @cordulaamann @carolmw @busylady @pammyjoy @onewing @paintdipper @robz @denful @johnfalconer @philippar @joansmor @pyrrhula @larrysphotos @365projectorgchristine @gardenfolk @corinnec @seattlite @bkbinthecity @kjarn @mubbur @briaan @boxplayer @sangwann

Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are all very much appreciated.

Although this train was at platform 11, with its restricted views for photos, it is easier to minimise the intrusion of the overhead electrification cables and masts than it is at some other platforms.

Ian

[Vesna]

Superb photo

[Fisher Family]

@vesna0210

Thank you Vesna, I do enjoy taking photos of steam trains!

Ian