page_title: LNER Class A4 4488 Union of South Africa
section_title: Preservation
hierarchical_section_title: LNER Class A4 4488 Union of South Africa / Preservation
caption_attribution_description: Union of South Africa loco 9 A scan from an old 80s slide.
context_page_description: 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, her mainline certification expired in April, subject to a boiler inspection she will be moved to the East Lancashire Railway until 2022 when she will be permanently withdrawn and placed on static display.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.
context_section_description: Purchased by John Cameron in July 1966, 60009 was preserved on the now-defunct Lochty Private Railway in Fife, Scotland, travelling the 1.5 miles (2.4 km) 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 Company's 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 Waterman's 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.
caption: 1980s photo
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