British Railways
Who owned LNER Class A4 4488 Union of South Africa from 1948 to 1966?
LNER Class A4 4488 Union of South Africa 60009 Union of South Africa is a LNER Class A4 steam locomotive built at Doncaster Works in 1937 . It is one of six surviving A4s . Its mainline certification expired in April 2020 . As the locomotive is subject to a boiler inspection , it will be moved to the East Lancashire Railway until 2022 , when it will be permanently withdrawn and placed on static display . It was briefly renamed Osprey during part of the 1980s and 1990s due to political opposition against apartheid in South Africa at the time . Names . Built by the London and North Eastern Railway ( LNER ) in 1937 at Doncaster Works and originally numbered 4488 , it was named after the then newly formed Union of South Africa . It had previously been allocated the name Osprey on 17 April 1937 , but was renamed to operate The Coronation . It eventually carried the name Osprey in the 1980s and 1990s . This was due to the contemporary political opposition against South Africa , which undertook a controversial policy of racial apartheid from 1948 to 1994 . The name Osprey had previously been carried by A4 No . 4494 ( renamed after the LNER director Andrew K . McCosh after 1942 ) and LNER Peppercorn Class A1 No . 60131 from 1949 to 1965 . 60009s name has since reverted to Union of South Africa . The works number was 1853 ; the plaques are located in the cab itself and not on the exterior cab sides as is the usual practice . Plaque . The springbok plaque on the side of the locomotive was donated on 12 April 1954 by a Bloemfontein newspaper proprietor . Only the one plaque was fitted on the left hand side of the locomotive . Two cast Springbok plaques were given to John Cameron in the mid 1970s and these were mounted on the cabsides . They have since been removed during overhauls but the original boiler side plaque remains . 60009 is fitted with an American , Crosby chime whistle in common with other members of its class . Liveries . Union of South Africa has worn many liveries throughout its career . The first livery it wore was as 4488 in garter blue , applied on 19 April 1937 . The next livery applied was LNER wartime black on 21 March 1942 . This livery was amended on 14 August 1943 when the L and R were removed to confuse potential spies , leaving the all-black locomotive with just NE on the tender . 21 February 1947 saw Union of South Africa regain garter blue with red and white lining . Its number was changed to just 9 on 12 January 1946 , under the renumbering scheme of Nigel Gresleys successor , Edward Thompson . It gained a stainless steel number 9 during this repaint . On 4 August 1949 , 60009 was repainted in the standard British Railways express passenger blue livery as 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley . Finally on 2 October 1952 , Union of South Africa was painted in British Railways green livery . It has worn this livery throughout preservation to date . Technical details . As with all 35 of the Gresley A4 pacific steam locomotives , Union of South Africa was fitted with streamlined valances , or side skirting , when it was built . This was found to hinder maintenance and , as with the rest of the class , it was removed . 4488 lost its valances during a works visit 21 March 1942 . Boilers . 60009 has been fitted with 14 boilers during ts career : 8951 , 9129 ( a new-build boiler fitted 9 November 1940 ) , 8955 ( from 4492 Dominion of New Zealand , 13 January 1945 ) , 9128 ( from 2512 Silver Fox , 9 February 1946 ) , 8957 ( from 4490 Empire of India , 5 May 1948 ) , 9027 ( from 60028 Walter K Whigham , 4 August 1949 - this boiler was renumbered 29279 on 23 November 1950 ) , 29285 ( from 60032 Gannet , 22 April 1954 ) , 29278 ( from 60013 Dominion of New Zealand , 18 November 1958 ) , 27965 ( a new-build boiler , 17 February 1960 ) , 27961 ( from 60024 Kingfisher , 19 July 1961 ) and 29337 ( from 60023 Golden Eagle , 6 November 1963 ) . Tenders . 60009 has had five tenders through its career , of two differing types . The first tender it had was a 1928 pattern streamlined corridor tender . This was a rebuild of a tender fitted to a Class A1 or A3 beforehand , being streamlined and fitted to 4488 from new . This was later changed for a new-build streamlined corridor tender from 1948 - 1963 . After its withdrawal , 60009 donated its tender for conversion to a second , water carrying only tender for 4472 Flying Scotsman . Currently 60009 is fitted with a 1928 pattern streamlined corridor tender , allowing its cab crew to be changed whilst the locomotive is hauling passenger trains . This tender was originally fitted to the LNERs experimental high-pressure Nº 10000 . The tenders it has had were : 5325 ( 17 April 1937 – 22 March 1948 ) , 5636 ( 5 May 1948 – 14 May 1948 ) , 5591 ( 14 May 1948 – 16 July 1963 ) , 5332 ( 6 November 1963 – 1 June 1966 ) and 5484 ( 17 July 1966 – 10 September 1966 ) . 60009 had a double chimney fitted on 18 November 1958 . This feature was first fitted to 4468 Mallard back in 1938 . As the safety requirements were tightened after the Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash , Automatic Warning Systems was fitted to all locomotives . 60009 was so fitted on 17 February 1960 . At the same time this was done , a Stone-Smith type speed recorder was also fitted . Career . Union of South Africa was allocated to Haymarket shed in Edinburgh from new and 20 May 1962 it had its only shed transfer to Aberdeen . On 24 October 1964 it hauled the last booked steam-hauled train from London Kings Cross . It was twenty minutes late through Grantham owing to a broken rail at High Dyke . It was the last steam locomotive to be overhauled at Doncaster whilst in service in November 1963 . It was withdrawn from British Railways service on 1 June 1966 . Preservation . Purchased by John Cameron in July 1966 , 60009 was preserved on the now-defunct Lochty Private Railway in Fife , Scotland , travelling the of track near Anstruther . In 1973 , the loco left the Lochty Private Railway by road and was taken to Ladybank to be placed back on the National Network , from there it was taken to Kirkcaldy and was based in the former goods shed and worked occasional tours based from the Fife town . After a few years at Kirkcaldy , it moved to Markinch and took up residency in the former goods shed where it stayed until May 1994 with the exception of a couple of years in a shed in the yard at nearby Thornton . Following the 1989 overhaul , it started to work railtours all over the United Kingdom . These have ranged from Plymouth in the south-west to Inverness in the north , from Holyhead in the west to Norwich in the east , it has also visited numerous main line connected preserved railways . It has since accumulated the highest mileage of any locomotive in the class . In May 1994 , the locomotive left its Markinch base for the last time albeit on the back of a low loader bound for the Severn Valley Railway , Bridgnorth for repairs . Its route took it over the Forth Road Bridge and in doing so became the only steam locomotive to cross both the Forth Bridge and the adjacent road bridge . After a repair in January 2007 , it left the Severn Valley Railway and went to Crewe for fitment of on-train monitoring recorder ( OTMR ) equipment . In April 2007 it returned home to Scotland , with the Railway Touring Companys The Great Britain railtour being the first work and thence to its new base at Thornton . During 2007 , it hauled the regular Scarborough Spa Express from York to Scarborough via Knaresborough , Harrogate and Leeds . In 2008 , it was continuing to work with the Railway Touring Company , scheduled to pull trains running between York and Edinburgh on several occasions during the first half of 2008 . Union of South Africa appeared at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway LNER Festival 2008 , along with 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley and 60019 Bittern , the first time that all three locomotives were together in preservation . In light of the expiration of its boiler certificate , Union of South Africa arrived at Pete Watermans LNWR Workshops at Crewe in 2010 , undergoing an extensive overhaul . It returned to steam in mid-2012 , hauling its first tours for the West Coast Railways on 22 and 23 July . On 9 September 2015 , 60009 hauled a train carrying Queen Elizabeth II along with Prince Philip , Duke of Edinburgh and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to re-open officially the Borders Railway between Edinburgh Waverley and Tweedbank . The locomotive subsequently operated railtours on the line throughout September . In 2017 , John Cameron announced 60009 would be withdrawn when its boiler ticket expired and placed in the Farming and Railway Visiting Centre in Fife . In March 2019 a 12-month extension on the boiler certificate was granted On 7 March 2020 , it hauled its last main line charter from Ealing Broadway to York via the Midland Main Line . References . - An overall history of the Gresley A4 class , as well as unparalleled details about the class and individual members . - Histories of the A4 and W1 classes of locomotive with details of repairs and liveries etc .