Alex Coomber
Here's a story about this Steam Locomotive. This Steam Loco is a Peppercorn Class 7 Pacific 4-6-2 No. 60530 Sayajirao. The detritus of a busy workshop lies around as an enthusiast has gained access by fair or innocently foul means. He is faced with what must be quite a good cop. The 4-6-2 Locomotive Sayajirao standing with the front end on jacks as it awaits further attention. The date is 1964 and this snapshot in time takes place in a corner of Darlington Works. It is receiving light casual maintenance and would leave the works in October of that year. On 17th December 1953. The engine was involved in a serious crash at Longniddry in Scotland. It was hauling a Special Christmas Parcels Train from Edinburgh to London Kings Cross when it struck an object on the line that had fallen from a goods train. The Fireman was killed and the driver seriously injured when the engine was thrown over the station platform and down an embankment landing with its wheels in the air. It was taken to Doncaster Works and took just 43 days to repair. The locomotive was built in these works and released in March 1948 for delivery to its first allocation which was London Kings Cross. It had the LNER number 530 which the following year became BR 60530 although the name had been with it from the beginning. It's last shed was Dundee Tay Bridge from where it was withdrawn in November 1966 and cut up at Motherwell Machinery and Scrap 4 months later like all but one of the class that was named in honour of the designer AH Peppercorn. Sayajirao was named after a racehorse.
