What operated NER Class P3 from 1948 to 1967?
NER Class P3 The North Eastern Railway ( NER ) Class P3 , classified J27 by the LNER , is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive . The P3 Class was designed by Wilson Worsdell and was a relatively minor modification of the existing North Eastern Railway NER Class P2 ( LNER Class J26 ) . The most significant change was a deeper firebox with shallower sloping fire grate . This was achieved by raising the boiler slightly , and by reducing the clearance between the firebox and the rear axle . The P3 Class were a freight engine by nature and used for hauling long trains of freight . Construction . Initially eighty J27s were built between 1906 and 1909 in five batches , distributed amongst the NERs Darlington Works , North British Locomotive Company , Beyer , Peacock and Company , and Robert Stephenson and Company . Twelve years later , a batch of twenty five J27s were built at Darlington with Schmidt superheaters and piston valves . These were delivered in 1921-2 and were followed by a final order of ten placed in December 1922 and built by the LNER at Darlington Works in 1923 . The superheated J27s could be identified by their extended smokeboxes . Post-war . After World War II , the J27s stopped hauling goods trains but they continued to haul heavy mineral trains . Withdrawals began in March 1959 , but in June 1966 thirty-six were still putting in hard work hauling coal in County Durham and South Northumberland . The final J27s were withdrawn from the Blyth area where they operated the short trip workings between the nearby coalfield and shipping staithes . The last J27 was withdrawn in September 1967 . The last four in active service were No . 65811 , No . 65879 , No . 65882 , and No . 65884 . Accidents and incidents . - On 4 November 1959 , Locomotive No . 65847 had difficulty stopping a freight train , coming to rest foul of the line at West Sleekburn , Northumberland . Locomotive No . 65824 was hauling a freight train which was in a head-on collision . Both of its crew were killed . - On 8 June 1960 , locomotive No . 65892 was in a side-long collision with a National Coal Board locomotive at Hilton , County Durham . Both locomotives were derailed . Preservation . Restoration . One , BR 65894 has survived to preservation and was purchased directly from BR by the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group on 1 December 1966 . There then followed restoration to full working order , initially at Tyne Dock where the locomotive was stored after withdrawal , then professionally at the then still functioning National Coal Board workshops at Philadelphia , Tyne and Wear , and then at Thornaby Depot . Final restoration , including the fitting of vacuum brake and steam heating apparatus for working passenger trains , was by the groups volunteers at ICI Billingham . Appearances . The locomotive , fully restored as NER class P3 No . 2392 , was delivered to the embryonic North Yorkshire Moors Railway in October 1971 . The locomotive provided the mainstay of services in the period leading up to full re-opening of the line , when it piloted Lambton Collieries Tank No . 29 on the Royal Re-opening Special of 1 May 1973 . Following its appearance as an exhibit at the Stockton and Darlington 150 celebrations and cavalcade , it was withdrawn for boiler repairs . From 1977 until early 1982 it was on display in the National Railway Museum at York . After a further overhaul , 2392 returned to traffic on the N.Y.M.R . in the autumn of 1984 . The engine then received another overhaul during the 1990s , resteaming in 1996 in BR Black livery as 65894 , before reverting to NER livery in Autumn 2003 . During these periods in operation , the loco saw use on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway , Boness and Kinneil Railway , the Llangollen Railway , the North Norfolk Railway , the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway , the East Lancashire Railway , and the Weardale Railway alongside occasional use at the NYMR . The engine was again withdrawn for overhaul in May 2006 at the Darlington Railway Museum , where it initially went on display for two years before work on a further overhaul started . Current status . The engine is still owned by the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group , and is currently at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway ( NYMR ) having been transferred from the NELPGs Hopetown ( Darlington ) works for the final stages of its most recent overhaul , partly funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant . The locos overhaul was recently completed and 65894 , in BR black livery , re-entered service on the NYMR in May 2018 , following a lengthy 12 year restoration period . It visited The Wensleydale Railway from 31 July to 31 August 2018 . External links . - The North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group