What was the very last steam engine to work on BR at the end of steam on each region and the date

Heres one for you historians, what was the last engines per region to work at the end of steam, and their workings, it can be freight, passenger, or even a light engine movement to a collection point please put down engine type, number and what the duty was by last, i mean the very last under its own steam. and its per region .and date if possible.

 

Well the Western Region was all set to eliminate its steam services by the start of 1966, but that thorne in its side, the Somerset and Dorset scuppered that by having to stay open for an extra couple of months. Therefor the final scheduled steam WR passenger train was the late running 20.20 from Templecombe to Bath on Saturday 5th March, hauled by 80043 and 80041. The final WR allocated loco in steam was 41283 which was steamed daily, Monday to Friday, at Bath that following week and again Monday to Thursday the week after, dropping its fire for the last time on 17th March. Having assembled the locos at Bath in order of their departure for scrap it was itself towed away on Friday 18th.

Of course steam continued to operate on the WR from other regions for some time, most notably the perrishable fruit traffic from Weymouth which persisted up until the last day of steam on the Southern, 9th July 67.

Peter

 

Possibly the last of all was 70013 following the Fifteen Guinea Special of 11 August 1968, which then worked light engine from Carlisle to Norfolk for the Bressingham centre, arriving in the morning of 12 August.

 

What about 73050, Patricroft to Peterborough on 20/21 September 1968?

 

By that time it wasn't a BR engine, and there were many preserved steam movements over BR post-August 1968, especially 4472, although most had a diesel pilot and were in light steam only, theoretically at least. On that basis, steam over BR never finished, but were these movements classed as 'working'? they certainly weren't BR.

 

Pretty sure the very last BR owned and run steam movement on the London Midland region (erstwhile Western Region) was December 18th 1988, by No. 7

 

When I took this photo as it left Carlisle I honestly believed I was seeing my last steam on BR metals other than 4472, which by then I wasn't particularly interested in.

 

I thought the same that evening when 5110 disappeared light engine under the Picton Road bridge, Edge Hill. My photos weren't as good as yours, though!

 

What about the Vale of Rheidol, as that was owned by BR right up to the late 80's

 

Steam Cranes into the 90's

 

See post 6.

 

this really should be in the narrow gauge thread, but here goes, was there a steam link that covered the VOR from the local depot could a driver be driving an valley lines DMU one week, and One of the VOR tanks the next?

 

Aberystwyth depot covered both the Cambrian and VoR, yes. Not Valley Lines though, rather a large, railway free, chunk of Wales between them.

John

 

I think the depot for the Cambrian Coast was Machynlleth, while I assume that VOR crews were based in Aberystwyth. Whether they would work both I don’t know.

Obviously before BR closed the steam shed at there were two separate sheds.

Was there a stabling point at Aberystwyth for DMUs and locos after the steam shed closed down?

 

I'm not sure how clear the exam question is but that's all part of the fun. So I'd say

SR passenger 35030 9/7/67 to Waterloo followed by l/e move to Nine Elms, driver Jim Evans.
SR freight ??? possibly the Weymouth to Westbury fruit train mentioned by @torgormaig

GW passenger--- can't do better than S and D March 66 for regular services
GW freight---- ? pannier tanks at Croes Newydd late 67?
GW excursion --- 7029 Zulu 4/3/67

NER passenger 0332 Leeds-Halifax-- Manchester May 68
NER freight no idea--- ?? West Hartlepool? Or was Skipton in the NER -- if so the Rose Grove-- Rylstone stone train 75xxx Aug '68

Scottish Region freight ?? 65345 pottering about at Thornton Jct? I think that and 65288 were the last Scottish based locos
passenger ?? 30/12/67 70004 Carlisle to Kilmarnock

ER passenger ?? 1645 Leeds Central to Doncaster ? May 66

I'm sure there will be a chorus of--- that's wrong. LMS ones already covered.

 

I photographed 92077 on a Balm Road -Carnforth freight at Kirkstall on 17th May 1968. It may not have been the last steam hauled freight on the NE but it was the last one I saw.

 

So that rules out the NE coast where steam finished Sept 67. But I think Skipton to Rylstone was just in the NER.

 

I remember one morning when I was in Woking PW seeing DS58 work from the Down Yard to the Up Yard. It was at out starting time (07.30) and I guess the run from Down, over the Up Guildford and across the Up Slow into the Up Yard (about 400 yds) would have knackered the boiler (Andy the driver never hung about). The only time I saw a crane out on an open road under its own power.
Pat
PS This would have been in 1978 or 79.

 

Err.... No 7 had been in private ownership for 22 years by then - they may have run the train but they hired in the loco. This subject is about the last movements of BR locos at the end of BR steam (1968) and not the end of BR itself.

Like @blink bonny, we all thought August '68 was the very last time we would see steam on BR. Back then we could never have imagined how good the future would be to us in terms of steam

Peter

The final steam working on the Southern was, I believe, a Bournemouth (or maybe Poole?) to Weymouth van train late in the evening of Sunday 9/7/67 worked by 77014. Earlier that day there were no less than three steam worked Weymouth - Westbury perishable freights for Channel Island fruit traffic. All three locos returned to Weymouth light engine for disposal.

Peter

 

I think you will find that Croes Newydd was an LMR depot by then. The last WR freight working was also on the S&D. After working the last train over the Highbridge branch, (an RCTS special) on Sunday 6/3/66 41249 abd 41283 back tracked to Bason Bridge and worked some milk tanks back to Highbridge before heading off light engines to Bath for disposal.
Plenty of subsequent steam workings ran over WR territory but they all originated from outside the Region and were not operated by WR locos