Description

Johnson 2P Class No. 40537 (built 1899) and BR Standard Class 5 No. 73050 (built 1954) stand at the Down platform at Shillingstone awaiting an Up service on the single line section from Blandford – which is being hauled by BR Standard Class 5 No. 73019 (built 1951).

There is no date given but from an article about 40537 in our magazine (Pines Express issue 310), it is likely to be early summer 1959. 40537’s train is probably the summer-Saturdays-only 7.47am Bradford to Bournemouth West and the oncoming service in the second picture is the 3.40 pm Bournemouth West to Bristol Up Mail. However, why 40537 is still on the train is stated by the author to be a mystery as pilots were usually detached at Evercreech Junction.

40537 had been built in 1899 as Midland Railway No. 152 but was rebuilt in 1913 as a superheated 483 Class. When photographed in 1953, the loco still had the original Johnson-designed tender.

Hugh Longworth shows 40537 as allocated to Templecombe in February 1959 and then stored from May 1959. Our author quotes photographic evidence of 40537’s use on the S&D in March and April 1959 which fits with this. He says there are photos of 40537 in store at Templecombe from July 1959 through to July 1961. However, in August 1961, the loco is listed by Longworth as having moved to Leamington Spa and stored again from the November, but our author doubts that this actually happened and he says that there are two reports of the loco in store at Gloucester Barnwood in January 1962. Allocated again to Templecombe in March 1962, stored in May and withdrawn in August 1962.

73050 is shown as allocated to Bath Green Park from new until July-August 1962 and from November 1962 until March/April 1964.
The SLS data shows the loco as having been withdrawn at that point, then swiftly reinstated at another location. 73019 is shown as allocated to Bath Green Park from May/June 1958 until September/October 1960.

Photo by G A Richardson. Copyright S&DRT. Our ref. WSHSD_2022_14_026b. See also WSHSD_2022_14_026a.

35 mm negative.

Image width 800 pixels, available for immediate download in JPEG format. Please note that we do not currently supply prints. For personal use only. Publishing by any means, including social media, is prohibited. Higher resolutions of this image are available for personal use; please see photo enquiries page.

Commercial enquiries welcome via info (at) sdrt.org.