LMS Class 2MT 2-6-2T No. 41312

London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) No. 41312 is a 2-6-2T LMS Class 2MT tank engine preserved at the Mid-Hants Railway/Watercress Line.
==Operational history==
No. 41312 was built by British Railways (BR) at Crewe Works in May 1952 and spent its entire working career on the Southern region. It was first based at Faversham and was then later allocated to Ashford, Barnstaple Junction, Brighton, and then Bournemouth.
In March 1963, No. 41312 was reallocated to Brighton and in 1964 it was moved to Bournemouth were it worked over the Swanage and Lymington branches while also performing the last steam service on the Lymington branch in April 1967. The last 3 months of its career were spent at Nine Elms acting as a station shunter for Waterloo before finally being withdrawn from service on July 3, 1967. Following this, No. 41312 was sold for scrap to the Woodham Brothers Scarpyard.
==Preservation==
No. 41312 lay rusting away at the scrapyard until August 1974 when it was acquired by the Caerphilly Railway Society. In 1995 the locomotive was sold to a private owner and was moved to the Mid-Hants Railway for restoration. It moved for the first time in preservation at the end of December 1998 and had entered service on New Years Day 1999.
In 2009, the locomotive was withdrawn for a ten-year major overhaul. It returned to traffic in January 2016, just in time for the Mid Hants Railway's Spring Gala.
In June 2019, the locomotive was officially purchased by the Mid Hants Railway.
No. 41312 now operates regularly on the Mid-Hants Railway/Watercress Line with its boiler ticket set to expire in 2025.
==Trivia==
*No. 41312 is one of four surviving examples of the LMS Class 2MT 2-6-2T left in preservation.
==Gallery==
File:30558739357 619c86a503 b.jpg
File:41312 at Alresford.jpg
Category:Mid-Hants Railway
Category:Preserved steam locomotives
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Built in 1952
Category:Crewe Works locomotives
Category:Mixed-traffic locomotives
Category:Tank locomotives
Category:Side tank locomotives
Category:Six-coupled locomotives
Category:LMS locomotives
Category:Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:2-6-2 locomotives
Category:2-6-2 steam locomotives
Category:2-6-2T steam locomotives
Category:2-6-2T locomotives
Category:Ivatt Locomotives
Category:Restored locomotives
Category:Locomotives saved from the Woodham Brothers scrapyard
Category:Watercress Line
Category:Switcher locomotives
Category:LMS Class 2MT