71000 at ELR

The Duke of Gloucester will be running on Sunday 30th October at East Lancs Railway.

In the boiler at Barry

Photo shared by Brian Pearce on Facebook:

on Holiday in Barry in the summer of 1970 - I only wish I had cleared the ash away from the front tube plate, then we would not have needed a new one when we restored the boiler.

71000 at Barry

Photo of 71000 at Barry Scrapyard taken in the 1970s by Steve Williams.

71000 at Wansford

Evening sunlight at Wansford, a photo by lewis95 on Flickr.

71000 polished, with quartered buffer beams sits in the evening sun.

East Lancs Railway Steam Gala

The 71000 Trust regrets to announce that the locomotive will not now feature in the East Lancashire's Steam Gala on October 22nd and 23rd as originally planned. Further details are available on the ELR website.

UPDATE: there will still be a 71000 sales stand at the Steam Gala this weekend if you would like to purchase any items of 71000 memorabilia.

The Duke returns to the East Lancs Railway

UPDATE: the engine will not be moving tomorrow (Monday) as previously scheduled.  Further information will appear as soon as possible. 

After a long but interesting time away from our home base, 71000 will return to the East Lancashire Railway from the Nene Valley Railway light engine, on Monday 17th October.

71000 is scheduled to leave Orton Mere at 10:09 and arrive at Castleton Ground Frame at 21:03.

The Trust would like to thank everybody at the Nene Valley for their hospitality and for making our visit so eventful by arranging for 71000 to be reacquainted with HRH Duke of Gloucester.

71000 will next appear at the East Lancashire Railway Steam Gala on the 22nd and 23rd of October.

More footage of 71000 at NVR

71000 at Nene Valley Railway

The Two Dukes at Nene Valley Railway

Another report about the meeting of two Dukes.  The Duke of Gloucester drives 71000 at Nene Valley Railway.

A meeting of two Dukes

HRH The Duke of Gloucester met with 71000 Duke of Gloucester on 28th September at Nene Valley Railway.

The visit followed several days of preparation and cleaning by the support crew and volunteers, with special attention to the cab where new arm rests were fitted in anticipation of the Duke spending time on the footplate. As well as all the cleaning of the tender and boiler, the front of the loco was polished twice and the buffers were quartered.

On the day of the visit the support crew were up early to put the finishing touches to the engine including the four lamps on the front. The Duke was then moved up to the turntable. At a weight of 160 ton it was over the limit for the 140 ton turntable and assistance was required to push the turntable round. After some last minute cleaning the support crew changed out of overalls into their suits.


HRH the Duke of Gloucester arrived on time and was welcomed at the front of the station before being escorted along the platform to the engine. The Duke was presented with a framed 71000 print as a reminder of his visit before climbing up on to the footplate for a ride down to Yarwell Junction. On the return leg, after being shown around the new station, His Royal Highness climbed back on to the footplate to take his turn at the controls.

Back at Wansford the Duke officially opened the new tea room extension and thanked everyone for all the hard work done on the loco by its volunteers, past and present, over the years and complimented the presentation of the engine.



Following a tour of the sheds, the Duke departed.

Four days hard work went into preparing for the visit but, as you can see from the photographs, it was well worth all the effort. A big thank you to everyone who was involved.