Crewe Heritage Centre is to celebrate Crewe Day with two steam locomotives this weekend on Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 July.
Held on the anniversary of the first trains passing through Crewe which commenced on 4th July 1837, this year's celebrations will see LNWR coal tank No. 1054 & Black 5 No.44871 attend the celebrations to mark the occasion at the Heritage Centre.
No.1054 will be in steam on Saturday July 6th from 10am. At midday, a handover presentation ceremony will take place where the coal tank will transfer ownership from the National Trust and become part of the Bahamas Locomotive Society.
The London North Western Railway built No.1054 at Crewe works in 1888. It ran in the Birmingham area and parts of North Wales before it was withdrawn before the second World War.
In a stroke of fortune because of the outbreak of war, it was considered beneficial to keep the locomotive as a spare rather than cutting it up, which saved it from the cutter's torch.
Post war, it was overhauled and returned into frontline service on pick up goods and branch trains before it was withdrawn again in 1958.
No.1054 returned to Crewe where fundraising was started to preserve the locomotive in what was one of the earliest examples of “crowd funding” in the preservation era.
Thanks to their efforts, the locomotive has survived and has been enjoyed by many generations of enthusiasts.
The Bahamas Locomotive Society has taken care of the coal tank since 1972 when it was moved to the Dinting Railway Centre museum. As of this Saturday the society will now own the locomotive outright, after the National Trust bequeaths the locomotive to them.
Black 5 No. 44871 will also be at Crewe Heritage Centre over the weekend. This locomotive was also built at Crewe works in 1945 under the LMS by chief Mechanical Engineer Sir William Stanier.
The locomotive will arrive under its own steam off the national network, leaving Crewe's primary station around 10am on Saturday morning. It will remain at on site until it departs late on Sunday night.
Over both days the Heritage Centre will be open from 10am – 4:30pm, giving visitors a chance to see both the engines, and ride behind No.1054.
The ‘Forging History: The Legacy of Crewe Works' exhibition will also be open, where visitors can learn about Crewe and how the building of the workshops and the vast complex, transformed locomotive building, and the history of the town.
“We're delighted to see a true Crewe icon continue to the next stop of its journey as it passes into the ownership of the Bahamas Locomotive Society, and for the opportunity for our local audience to experience the thrill of heavy engineering and steam power in Crewe as it would have been 187 years ago.”
Gordon Heddon, Chair of Crewe Heritage Trust
