The Stanier Class 8F 2-8-0s

These London Midland freight locos were largely unsung work horses and we probably didn’t give them that much attention at the time, with so many more glamorous engines around to entertain us. They were not as pleasing to the eye as the Stanier Class Fives. It was, perhaps, only after the end of steam on BR that the survivors became more noticeable. No. 48151, particularly, has become a stalwart of the preservation scene. The versatility of the class was certainly born out for me during a rousing return trip behind her over the Settle and Carlisle.

John Dyer photographed the class in a number of locations and I’ve chosen the ones that were closer to home - on the Wirral, at Chester and in North Wales. No. 48262 is on her way from Bidston dock to Shotton steelworks with an iron ore train in August 1962, and No. 48392 is similarly employed, departing from Bidston in May 1965. Freight traffic from the ore terminal and from Birkenhead docks had to snake its way across the electrified West Kirby to Liverpool lines at this point. No. 48406 was on Bidston sheds in July 1960, and No. 48476 was also there, in January 1962. No. 48633 passed through Chester General in March 1962, and No. 48742 was seen at Hope and Pen-y-fford on the ex-GCR route to Wrexham, in April 1962.