Jinty

The humble ex-LMS Class 3F 0-6-0 tank was sometimes called a coffeepot - a term also used to describe at least one other class of locomotive - but it was best known to us as a jinty. It was also “the other engine” on my 1950s Tri-ang layout, very much playing second fiddle to Princess Elizabeth.

They were often employed as station pilots at Liverpool Lime Street, bringing empty stock down from Edge Hill and giving departing London expresses a bit of a shove out of the platform and up the hill.

In 1966, late on in the days of steam, I photographed one undertaking similar parochial duties at Chester General station. The 2015 pictures were taken at Loughborough Central station on the current GCR.